What we really feel (A Zutara fanfic)
by Moonlight1blue
Summary: My first ever fanfic! Hope you enjoy, it's set at the western air temple right after Zuko joins the Gaang!
1. Chapter 1: Fury vs A Kiss

Yeah, hi, this is my first Avatar fanfic and my first fanfic on this site, so please excuse it if it's stupid lol. Obviously though I want opinions, ways to make it better, etc. C: And also, I'm writing a Zutara fanfic so I don't feel like the exact script like on the shows work for it, so I'm not going to directly follow the episodes and how they work (:.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar.

Katara made her way to her room in the western air temple. She was still furious with Zuko no matter whose side he claimed to be on. She was certain that he was lying, even if Toph sensed that he wasn't. Toph couldn't sense when Azula was lying, so why if Azula was his sister would Toph be able to sense Zuko's lies? They were both, in fact, equally evil according to Katara.

Zuko was sitting on her bed, waiting for the waterbender to come into the room. He was trying to think of what to say to her, having no idea that she was only ten seconds away. He contemplated begging for forgiveness, again. All he wanted was to be accepted by her- by all of them. He was already accepted by Aang and partially by Sokka and Toph. Toph was the last one on his list to impress. He hardly spoke to her, and she seemed at ease with him being here, so he didn't worry about her. He stood up and made his way to the door, about to storm off because he couldn't come up with anything clever enough to impress the watertribe girl. He panicked when he heard footsteps right outside the door, and he stumbled backwards into the closet just as she opened the door.

She marched to her bed and flopped down. She groaned slightly- a sound that made Zuko shiver. He could sense that she was in pain, but he had no idea why. The sun was already down, and he figured he would wait until she fell asleep and sneak out. From the crack in the door, he saw Katara get up and walk over to the small table in which she kept her belongings. His eyes widened as he saw her remove her clothes. Well, only her blue watertribe clothes. She kept on her white underclothes. He knew he's seen in it a billion times because she practiced in it to keep her clothes from getting wet. It's not like it even showed anything, but it showed a lot more that her usual attire.

Zuko sucked in a breath, realizing how mature Katara was. He remembered the young, child-like girl he'd first met. Well… not really met, per say, more like fought. She had grown so much, developing a woman-like face and body. She even wore her hair down now, instead of her old braid. Zuko smiled when he remembered the braid. He definitely liked her hair better down compared to her braid, but he still thought it was… cute. Zuko frowned, realizing what he was thinking. No, he _couldn't _be thinking of Katara like that. He didn't find her attractive. No, there was no way. Was there? He shook his head and closed his eyes. When they opened, he realized Katara had retreated back to her bed. He wondered how long he'd have to stay hidden.

He waited for about two hours, just to be sure. He wouldn't risk being caught. That would be awkward. Zuko wanted to kick himself from even going into her room in the first place. He took a quiet step out of the closet and glanced at Katara. He almost gasped when he saw her face. She looked so gentle and innocent, happy. It was the first time he'd seen her without an angry expression when it was just the two of them. He wondered what she was dreaming about. Her hair lay loose and scattered; a few pieces were placed on her face. He wanted so badly to stroke her soft, gentle face, but he held back and slowly backed out of the room. And right into Aang.

"Zuko? What are you doing here?" Aang asked. He didn't even seem suspicious.

"Uh… looking for you…" Zuko lied.

Aang glanced into Katara's opened door. "Anyways, what are you doing here?" Zuko shot back at him. His cheeks were burning from being caught.

"I was coming to check on Katara. She seemed pretty angry earlier. Why were you looking for me?" he asked, growing suspicious.

Zuko racked his thoughts and came up blank. "I… needed some advice."

"Oh," Aang smiled, "Well my room is down the next hall, you must've got lost. Anyways, what advice did you need?" he asked. "Is it about Mai?" he immediately regretted asking that. Zuko cringed at her name.

"Actually, never mind. I don't want to talk about her. I changed my mind," he said, hoping he convinced the Avatar that that had been it though.

"Oh… well if you ever need to talk about her, or anything, I'm here," Aang said with a huge smile.

"Thanks," Zuko said flatly. "I'm gonna head to bed," he bowed and walked off.

He had no idea how Aang managed to be so happy and helpful. Zuko was the complete opposite of him. He saw why Katara loved the young avatar.

It was early morning, and the light was shining through Katara's window. She woke up suddenly and realized she should've been awake already. Why had no one woken her up? She was supposed to make breakfast at sunrise so that everyone could eat when they woke up. She wondered outside after having dressed. She saw that someone had made breakfast already and she frowned. Then she saw Aang serving breakfast.

"How come no one woke me up? I would've made breakfast. I always make breakfast," she stated.

Everyone turned and could see she was hurt. Had they not wanted her there? Why hadn't they woken her?

"Katara, we thought it would be best for you to rest. You've seemed very stressed lately," Aang explained.

"Well I'm fine. I like to make breakfast. You should've woken me," she said, but she was no longer angry.

"I'm sorry," Aang bowed his head and led her to the table.

Aang smiled and served her breakfast. Katara thanked her and began eating. Zuko locked eyes with her for a second but he quickly looked away, his face turning a bright shade of red. She wondered why, but said nothing.

Katara ate happily, thinking of a new move she was working on. She was trying to think of ways to spice it up when she found her eyes searching for the firebender. They once again locked eyes and this time, she decided to ask him after breakfast what his problem was. She would've asked now, but Sokka and Aang were in the middle of discussing battle plans. The waterbender and firebender locked eyes a few more times before breakfast ended. By then, Katara's anger had risen and she marched to Zuko's room where he had retreated to a few minutes before. But when she got there, she found that he wasn't there. She turned back and saw Zuko standing in the doorway, blocking her in.

"I think you're in the wrong room," he said, taking a step forward. He was intentionally blocking her way out now. The door slowly closed behind him on its own. "Or did you mean to come here?"

Katara angrily pushed him, "You know why I'm here!" she shouted.

"I don't, actually," he said. He could tell she was getting frustrated. That made him smile a little.

"What's so funny? And why did you keep looking at me at breakfast!" she was getting angrier.

"You were the one looking at me!" he accused.

"Excuse me? Why would I want to look at you? I-"

Zuko interrupted her by pulling her to him and pressing his lips to hers. He didn't know why he did it, probably just to get her to shut up, but something about it made him want more- electricity racing through him as fast as the adrenaline. Katara was pushing him away but he refused to let go until he ran out of breath. They were both panting, but that didn't stop Katara from slapping him. He was prepared for her anger, but he was not prepared for her tears. They came so suddenly, and she covered her face. Somehow, no matter how angry he was with her, this made his heart ache.

He opened his mouth to try and say something comforting, but no words came out. Katara looked up at him, anger in her eyes. "If you ever," she warned, her voice low and taunting, "_ever_ kiss me again I will beat the living crap out of you."

She put her hand on her necklace and marched right past Zuko. He smirked a little at her words. He was pleased with how angry she was, even though he loved the kiss.


	2. Chapter 2: The Fight

Katara had run back to her room. She was so angry- why would Zuko kiss her? He hated her! And she hated him even more! She loathed him so much, yet something about the kiss, the way his warm lips tasted so sweet and felt so right against her plump lips, something made her want more. And she hated him even more for that. She knew what he was trying to do. He was trying to make her angry and fall for him so that he could betray her. That is what she kept telling herself, anyways.

She grabbed her water pouch which she had, oddly, left on her table. She had decided to go to the river and practice for a while to release some anger and stress. She made her way to the river and removed her blue clothing, leaving her in her white undergarments. She raised her fingers delicate, with a look of concentration on her face. The water lifted, moving rhythmically with her hands. She swayed her hands, the water swirling into a spiral, lifting higher and higher until it was taller than the trees. She angrily pushed down and the water followed, splashing her and her a little. She decided to try a new trick, unaware that Zuko had been watching this whole time, completely amazed with her skills. He watched as she put both hands in front of her, the palms of her hands facing away and the backs of them touching as if she was swimming. She began to pull her arms apart, pushing the water and separating it so that she could see the bottom and that no water was between her and the bottom. She brought each sides of the water up and made the ends meet, creating a little cave. She iced them and went to look at the bottom. She was impressed. If she needed, she could trap people like this, or even shield herself. She smiled, satisfied, and let the water drop.

Zuko was in shock; obviously he had underestimated the waterbenders powers. As he went to sneak away, he faltered and stepped on a twig, snapping it in half. Katara immediately turned, picking up water and bringing it in front of her. "Who's there?" she demanded.

Zuko quietly backed away, but Katara was quicker. While Zuko was being slow and quiet, Katara was being fast and loud. Zuko was about to slip away when he saw another person in the woods. He couldn't make out who exactly it was, but as soon as he saw Katara, he grabbed her by placing one hand over her mouth and the other around her waist. She stifled a scream and struggled. Zuko heard the footsteps getting closer.

"Stop it, there's someone else here, now be quiet so they don't find us," he hissed.

She stopped struggling and he let go. He saw her grab her water pouch and he grabbed her arm, shaking his head. They didn't need to fight, they needed to get back and warn the others that someone else was there. Zuko began to pull Katara silently when out of nowhere, Aang jumped in front of them.

"Ahhh!" they both screamed.

"What are you doing?" demanded Zuko.

"I was looking for Katara," he said suspiciously. "What are _you _doing?"

"I, uh, I Katara out here so I could talk to her about us being so angry with each other. If we're going to train you we need to get along." Zuko said. He was lying about why they were here, but it was the truth.

"_I _don't have to get along with you. You betrayed me- all of us!" Katara shouted.

"Katara! Zuko's right," Aang looked disappointed, but he was tired of them fighting all the time. "Look, maybe it's time for you two to make up. You two do really need to talk about this. All of us in the group are tired of your constant arguing. You two should stay here and talk. You really need to."

And with that, Aang was gone. He left the two of them to talk.

"Katara," Zuko began.

She looked at him angrily. She was so angry, yet she loved the way he said her name and wanted to feel his warm lips pressed to hers again… no, no she was only wanting those things from Aang. Wait, did she want those things from Aang? Aang, the dorky young boy who she'd found frozen in an ice cube. Did she… love him? She didn't know. She knew her and Aang were supposed to be together. Everyone knew that. They were just so perfect for each other. Their relationship would be flawless, effortless. She let her mind drift and wondered what she would be like with Zuko. It would take work, but it might be worth it. The dark, mysterious, extremely handsome guy… but she didn't want to be with him. She liked Aang. She kept repeating that. So when Zuko crept closer to her, she rose with anger.

"What? What do you want? Are you going to try and kiss me again?" she yelled.

Zuko grew angry, "I didn't try, I just did! And that was only to make you shut up!" he shot back.

"You know what, I'm tired of this! There's only one way to settle this!" Katara shouted. She got into battle stance and opened her water pouch. She got ready to attack Zuko.

Zuko scoffed. "You _don't_ want to do that."

"Why? You're just scared because I'll beat you!" Katara yelled.

Zuko's anger rose. "Fine! But you're going to regret this!" Zuko got into battle stance also. "Are you sure?" he growled.

"Yes, and if I win, you have to leave me alone!" Katara yelled.

"And _when _I win," Zuko smirked, "_you _have to kiss me."

"No way!" Katara growled.

Zuko chuckled and stood straight. "You're too scared," he said tauntingly.

"No, I'm not. I'm going to win," she lashed at him.

He growled and shot fire at her. "I'm not holding back," he warned.

"Neither am I!" said Katara.

Zuko stepped forward, causing Katara to step backwards. He smirked and shot ten quick bursts of fire, which Katara dodged gracefully. She shot back with water, but he was much quicker. He dodged the water and shot five more bursts of fire at Katara who tried to counter act his attack by lashing water at the fire, but her hand came to close and she got burned. She dropped the water and tears welled in her eyes.

"Katara!" Zuko ran over to her, but Katara was already on her way to the river. He quickly caught up with her as she stuck her hand in the water, sobbing.

But she wasn't done yet. Now that she was at the river, she had a better chance.

"Katara, are you-" Zuko began.

But she was already done healing. She twirled around, bringing up water and shooting it at him. He was completely caught off guard when the waterbender froze his feet to the ground. She shot more water at him, freezing his arms. She looked smug and opened her mouth to say, 'I won,' when Zuko broke out from the ice and pounced on top of her. Katara shrieked, not in pain, but in anger. The firebender's lips were moving up and down her jawline.

"Give up?" he whispered.

"No," she growled.

"Fine," he looked her in the eyes. His hands were intertwined in hers, although she resisted, he was much stronger. His hands began to grow warm. She knew what he was doing.

"Do it," she dared.

His hands grew warmer and warmer, and just as he was about to shoot fire, Katara couldn't take the intense burning on her slightly burned hands.

"Okay!" She shrieked.

Zuko grinned, having easily beat the waterbender. He rolled over, pulling her on top of him easily and holding her there. "Well?" Was all he said.

"Well what?" Katara asked. But she knew good and well what he was waiting for.

"_Well_ you have to kiss me," he smirked.

She growled. "You cheated though!"

Zuko laughed. "No, I one fair and square," he scowled, "now either kiss me once or I'll kiss you as many times as I please."

Katara was furious with him. She didn't want to give to his demands. Or she didn't want herself to want to do it, more rather. Her heart was pounding, but she swore it was out of fury. She hated herself for losing, but she hated Zuko even more for doing this.

"You didn't say when I had to kiss you," she pressed.

"Now. You have to do it _now._" He said, pulling her closer.

He was wet from Katara splashing water all over him. She felt his chest moving in quick breaths. Was he nervous? She thought not. She knew that he was only doing this to piss her off. He didn't even have an ounce of feelings for her. And she had no feelings for him. Right?

Katara tried to pull away, but Zuko only pulled her closer. Her face was right in front of his. He cupped her face in his hands and drew her in for a kiss. But Katara, with free hands now, waterbended some water from the lake and slapped Zuko with it. She froze him where he was, his whole body covered except his head. Katara smirked.

"I won," she said smugly, and trotted off back to camp, leaving Zuko to melt his way out of it.

Back at camp, Katara started dinner. She went to get a few vegetables when Toph found her. "Katara!" she ran up to her.

"What is it Toph?" Katara asked.

Toph handed Katara a note. "What does it say?" she asked.

"It says, 'Need meat. Gone fishing. Back in a few days. Sokka and Zuko." Katara explained. "One more thing. Aang, practice your firebending while I'm gone. Do twenty sets of fire fists and ten hot squats every time you hear a badger frog croak. Zuko."  
Hearing a badger frog, Aang groaned. "Nobody else has homework, one hot squat, two hot squat, three hot squat…"

Saying Zuko's name made Katara even angrier, and her heartbeat sped up with fury.

"Still mad?" Toph asked.

"I need to go finish dinner," was all Katara said.


	3. Chapter 3: A Secret

_Okay, okay… so there's gonna be a lot of kaang in this chapter … blah I'm not a kaang fan at all but it has to be done. Plus it might be a little fun. Eh, well here it goes (:_

Katara and Aang were on their way to the river to practice some waterbending moves. Katara got angry when she saw the spot where Zuko had tried to force her to kiss him just yesterday. She got angrier when she remembered wanting to do it. She was deep in thought about her confused feelings when Aang was talking to her.

"Katara?" Aang asked.

"Oh, sorry, I zoned out," Katara said.

Aang smiled, "I said I learned a new firebending move, watch!"

Aang put his hands together, concentrating. Katara couldn't help but realize how much taller he had grown. He had gotten more toned, muscle-wise. She watched his firebending move as he did a series of kicks, shooting fire each time. She couldn't stop her mind from comparing his skills to Zuko's. Zuko was a much better firebender, but Aang was catching on quick. She nodded in approval and clapped when he finished, with a smile on her face. Aang walked over to Katara and scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Katara… I need to talk to you," Aang said. His face burned bright red.

"About what?" She asked.

"Well… ever since we kissed, I've been thinking… you know, about us. And I wanted to know if you wanted to be with me, or if it was just a kiss. I mean, I get it if you don't want to, but I just kinda thought that you felt something between us, the way I do," Aang admitted.

Katara sucked in a breath, not sure how to answer. She honestly didn't know what she wanted. "Aang, I think right now," she paused, "well, honestly, I think we should wait. Until after summer, you know. I don't want to be a distraction, and we all need to focus for now on the battle. We can figure this out after that," she said.

Aang bit his lip. He wanted to kiss Katara so badly right now. She might not have minded kissing him either, if not for her strange confusion about the firebender. Why had she felt so strongly about this? She grew angrier with every thought of it.

"You're right," he said. His face grew red and he tried to change the subject. "So, you wanna play waterball?"

Katara smiled. Aang was good at cheering her up. "Sure," she answered lightly.

She wondered what it would be like in the future when she was with him. She knew they would have kids, have a happy life, and that he would do anything to make her happy. But, why was something nagging at her insides that she might not want that? There was no one else she could imagine being that happy with, so why wouldn't she fully give her love to Aang? She didn't know, but she was going to try and do it anyways. She honestly thought he needed to focus right now though.

After playing waterball as a warm up, they practiced waterbending for a few hours, then Katara headed to make dinner. After she had made dinner and everyone happily ate, telling stories around the fire and cracking a few jokes, they all headed off for bed.

Katara was lying in bed when there was a knock at the door. Aang came in and walked over to her bed.

"Aang… what are you doing here?" she asked, groggy and confused.

"Katara, I need to tell you something," Aang began. "I- I really like you and I know you said I should focus on training right now and we can pick up after summer, but what if I don't win? I just need you to know that you're the most amazing girl I've ever met, and I'm so glad I've spent this last year with you. There's no one else in the whole world I would have rather spent them with. Katara, I love you," Aang said. And without giving her a chance to reply, he pressed his lips to hers.

The kiss was a sweet, gentle one, but Katara was in shock. She pulled away, confused.

"Aang," she said, "I'm sorry. I just don't think we should be doing this right now. I mean, I don't want to be a distraction when you need to be focusing on training and beating the firelord."

Aang's face turned red with embarrassment. She hadn't meant to hurt him; she only wanted him to focus on more important things like the firelord.

But Aang wasn't the only one that was hurt… Toph was standing just outside their door, tears welled up in her eyes. Nobody knew how she felt about Aang and her jealousy towards Katara for being the girl he loved. Toph refused to tell anybody because she knew Aang didn't return her feelings. She ran back to her room.


	4. Chapter 4: A Surprise

_Ch 4_

_Ohhhh there was a twist last chapter :D so what shall happen this time? Well you should probably read 'cause you're not gonna find out up here! The storys down there silly duck xD BTW Zuko and Sokka are returning from the boiling rock & I know they brought back a few people but other than Suki and Hakota I can't remember the others, so they're not getting any lines lol I'll just mention them or something._

Toph was looking for Katara, although seeing her sent pings of jealousy through her, she needed another healing session from the time Zuko burned her feet. She was frustrated with the fact that her vision was blurry and she was having trouble seeing. She was getting so tired of it and began wondering when she'll get her full vision back. She knocked on Katara's door.

"Come in," Katara said.

Toph walked in with a blank expression on her face. "I need another healing session," she said.

Katara stood up and smiled, and although Toph couldn't see it, it was just something that came naturally to the tender, loving girl. "Okay," she said happily.

Katara led Toph to their healing spot. Toph sat down and Katara bended the water so that it was shaped around her hands. She put them on Toph's feet, using her healing powers to try and heal the burnt feet. After about ten minutes, Toph was feeling better. At least her feet were… her heart was aching from the desire for the love of the Avatar.

Katara sensed Toph was feeling down. She sat beside the young girl who was rubbing her feet. "Toph," Katara began, "are you… are you okay? You seem down."

Toph hid her face by looking down. "Yeah," she laughed nervously, "why wouldn't I be?"

Toph's voice was completely smooth, there was no sign that she was lying. Katara frowned, not satisfied with the answer, although she didn't object. "Okay," she said with a tone that showed she knew that Toph was lying.

Toph swallowed hard and stood up. "I'm gonna go lie down. I don't feel too good."

Toph wasn't lying; she felt a pain in her chest. It was a wrenching pain as if someone had her heart in their hand and was squeezing it as hard as they possibly could. She knew exactly who it was that had a hold on her heart. It was the boy who she had fallen for during their training and their time spent together. Twinkle toes, as she liked to call him. The avatar boy who had his eyes and Toph's closest friend- yes, she wouldn't ever admit it to anyone, but Katara was her best friend.

A few days after Sokka and Zuko left, Katara and Aang saw a war ballon and immediately prepared to fight. But after a few seconds, Katara spotted Sokka. "Sokka!" She shouted. Him and Zuko landed the war ballon. Sokka got off the war balloon, followed by Zuki and Hakoda, Sokka and Katara's father.

"Dad!" Katara exclaimed. She ran up to her father and hugged him tightly, tears streaming down her face.

Aang hugged Suki and a few prisoners got off the war balloon. Sokka explained to them all how he and Zuko descended to the boiling rock to rescue Hakoda, and ran into Suki there, even making a few new friends- the prisoners they brought along.

Zuko watched Katara. He was filled with happiness seeing her hug her father like that. She was smiling and talking to Hakoda, happiness gleaming off of her. He wished that she looked that happy when he talked to her, but he knew it was exactly the opposite. He watched Katara and Hakoda as they exchanged tales and stories of what happened for a few minutes before he was tackled in a group hug.

Zuko awkwardly made his way to his room, feeling left out with all the happiness and love around him, knowing none of it was meant towards him. He sat down on his bed, thinking about Mai and what she had done. She had risked her life just to save him, betraying Azula and ultimately getting arrested and thrown into prison. He felt terrible knowing he might have been able to prevent it… but he felt even worse knowing that his feelings for her were slipping away. He tried his best to remember everything he loved about her, but it seemed as if they had drifted apart. He found himself constantly thinking of the beautiful watertribe girl, who he didn't know was standing outside his door. She hesitantly knocked.

Katara was feeling a little bad about all the hate she had shown to Zuko, especially after he helped bring her father back. Zuko, thinking it was Aang or Sokka, said, "Come in."

Katara opened the door and took a step inside. "Uh… Hi," she said with a forced smile. "I just wanted to talk to you about, you know, what you did…"

Zuko immediately thought she meant kissing her, and his face turned a wild shade of red. "Look, Katara, I know you're mad but I…"

She cut him off with a smile on her face. "Mad? I'm not mad, I'm actually very… thankful. I thought you were different, but maybe I was wrong about you," she said, forcing herself to be nice.

"Really?" Zuko asked, and she bit her lip, walking closer to him.

"Yeah, I mean, you shouldn't have taken Sokka to the boiling rock, that was very dangerous but… you brought my dad back. Don't get the wrong impression, though," she narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. "I'm still totally pissed at you. And I still hate you."

Zuko cringed from her harsh words. "You don't mean that," he said.

"Yes i do... But still, I do owe you a thanks for-"

She was interrupted by Zuko jumping on her, pushing her out of the way,

"What are you doing?" Katara shrieked.

"Saving you from being crushed by rocks!" Zuko replied, adrenaline rushing through his veins.

"Okay, I'm saved, you can get off me now," Katara replied, irritated.

Zuko rolled his eyes, finding her attitude annoying yet cute. Wait, no! He couldn't be falling for the waterbender… could he? He had to admit, she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. And he admired her caring personality, although it wasn't shown towards him. He even liked her feistiness. Well, sometimes, anyways.

Katara and Zuko ran outside to see what was happening. They saw Azula in a war balloon.

"Oh no," Zuko whispered.

Katara, forgetting her anger at him asked, "She followed you, didn't she?"

Zuko nodded and everybody got into fighting stance.


	5. Chapter 5: Azula

Ch.5

Toph created a tunnel large enough to fit Appa. "Come on, we can get out through here," she said, pointing at the tunnel. Everybody began running into the tunnel, except for Zuko, who stayed, ready to fight.

Aang was trying to force Appa into the tunnel when he stopped and saw Zuko not moving. "What are you doing?" Yelled Aang.

There was fire being shot all around them, and Zuko turned back, making sure Katara was already in the cave. "Go ahead," said Zuko, "I'll hold them off. I think this is a family visit." And with that, Zuko ran towards the war balloons and warships, as more had gathered during the past few minutes.

Katara and Sokka ran to help Aang pull Appa into the cave. "Come on, we've gotta get outta here!" Shouted Sokka. They began pulling Appa who resisted stubbornly.

Zuko jumped of the broken wall and ran, Katara watching him the whole way. She hoped he didn't get hurt. No matter how much she despised him, Aang needed a firebending teacher. Zuko ran to the edge of the cliff, and Azula rose in a war balloon right in front of him. "What are you doing here?' He asked. The wind was blowing, scattering his hair into his face, but he held his head high to see Azula. There wasn't even an ounce of fear in his scarred face.

"You mean it's not obvious yet?" Azula asked, as if it was written on her forehead. There was a hint of something in her voice, a sign that she was about to laugh. She sounded a little insane. "I'm about to celebrate becoming an only child!" She yelled at him.

She grabbed the railing of the war balloon and flipped over it, not letting go the whole time. She extended her legs, quickly shooting her blue fire directly at Zuko, he dodged it. She flipped back over the railing the moment after she shot the fire. While dodging the attack, Zuko had jumped out of the way, but the force of the fire was enough to send him flying and even caused the ground to crack. Zuko landed about twenty feet away from where he had been, unhurt.

He got back up and raced back towards Azula, bravely using part of the wall to run on and jump towards the war ship she was now on. While in the air, Zuko shot a few rounds of fire in her direction, missing. He almost made it to the ship, but only touched the side, falling down. He reached up as if there was something there to grab, a look of utter fear on his face. He knew he had lost. Azula watched happily as her brother descended towards the grounded. But what she didn't know was that he landed on another ship, with no harm done.

Katara, Aang, and Sokka were still trying to force Appa into the tunnel. "I can't get him to go in there! Appa hates tunnels!" Aang said.

"Aang, there's no way we can fly out of here," Katara said realisticly.

Appa made sounds of resistance. He refused to go into the tunnel.

"We'll have to find a way!" Aand said.

"We need to split up," Sokka realized. He ran to the rest of the people including Hakoda, The Duke, Teo, Suki, and the prisoner who had escaped with them. "Take the tunnel and get to the stolen airship," he ordered.

Katara looked back at Sokka. "No," she shouted, walking over to her father. "The fire nation can't separate our family again."

They had been separated too many times, and Katara didn't know what she would do if they were separated again. She just got her father back; she couldn't bear to lose him again. She wouldn't.

"It'll be okay, it's not forever," Hakoda said.

He put his hands on Katara's shoulders and gave her a tender smile, his eyes promising that he was telling the truth. Katara knew she had no choice. She looked away, angry, but quickly hugged her father. Sokka hugged Hakoda quickly then grabbed Suki's arm and ran to Aang with her and Katara. Hakoda and the others quickly made their way through the tunnel.

Katara hopped onto Appa and helped Suki up. Toph put her hand on the wall and said, "I can clear that away and we can fly out through there."

Suki and Aang said something, but Katara was busy searching for Zuko. He had been gone for a while now. She hoped he was okay. Aang covered Appa's face with rocks so that he wouldn't get burned. Azula shot fire at him, but it didn't work. She smiled evilly as the avatar flew off, but her smile vanished when they war ship with Zuko on it rose. Katara had been staring and silently breathed a sigh of relief. Zuko ran towards Azula and jumped onto her war ship, each of them shooting fire at one another, stealthily dodging the other's attacks. Azula and Zuko both shot fire from their fists, and when it collided, it sent them both flying from the explosion the force created.

Both of them flew different ways into the air and off of the war ship, but Zuko was caught by Aang flying Appa over to him before he hit the ground. They began to fly away, all but Aang, who was steering, watching Azula spiral towards the ground.

"She's… not gonna make it," Zuko said, surprised.

Just then, Azula unclipped her sharp hair pen and shot fire from her feet, sending her towards the rocky cliffs. She used the sharp, knife-like hair pen to hold her up by shoving it into the rocks, sliding down about twenty feet before stopping completely. Her long, black hair was flowing in the wind. She was staring at Zuko with an evil smile on her face.

"Of course she did," he muttered.

Later, after flying long enough, they finally made camp. Everyone sat around cracking jokes, but Katara was too preoccupied thinking about her mother. For some reason, the attack earlier and having to separate from her father again made her remember the terrible day her mother was killed. She got up angrily after Zuko made a joke, and thinking it was because of him, he got quiet. She stormed off.

"What's with her?" Sokka asked.

"I wish I knew," Zuko said, getting up and following her.

"What's with him?" Sokka asked, beginning to get irritated with all the weird feelings around here.

Zuko followed Katara to where she was sitting by a lake. Every time she thought of her mother she got so angry, wishing she could see the man who killed her and… well, she honestly wanted to hurt him. She wanted to r_eally _hurt him. Seeing Zuko walk up behind her, she began to walk further away. She didn't want him here right now. She was so angry and so sad. Tears welled up in her eyes but she held them back.

Zuko thought she was angry because of him. "This isn't fair," he accused. "Everyone else seems to trust me now, what is it with you?"

Katara, mad that he immediately accused her turned around, "Oh," she said, angrier than she was before. "Everyone trusts you now? I was the first person to trust you, remember? Back in Ba Sing Se."

He walked over to her, seeing that she'd been crying. "Katara, what can I do to make it up to you?"

"You really wanna know? Hmm, you could re-conquer Ba Sing Se in the name of the Earth King, or you could bring my mother back!"

She didn't know why she said the last part about her mother. She had always hated the fire nation for taking her mother, but why would she tell that to Zuko? Zuko, who had nothing to do with it, Zuko, the one who was on her side now. Why was she being so mean now? She knew why. It was to hide her feelings about her mother. She was so angry and she had no way of letting it out, so when Zuko made her even angrier, she unleashed it on him.

Zuko was shocked. He had known about her mother already, but he wasn't expecting her to say that. He knew what he needed to do. He needed to talk to Sokka about what happened to their mother.

Once Zuko was inside Sokka's tent sitting across from him, he decided to ask him. They had made small talk, but they both knew that Zuko wasn't there to chat. "So, Sokka, there's something I needed to talk to you about. It's about your sister."

Sokka knew this was about why Katara was so angry, but he didn't know the reason.

"Why does she hate me?" Zuko asked.

"What? Katara doesn't hate anybody. Well maybe a few people from the fire nation… I mean bad people. Not people who are good but used to be bad," Sokka back pedaled.

"Well… earlier she said something about her mother. And back in Ba Sing Se, she also said something about her mother. What happened to her?" Zuko asked.

"Well it's not a day I like to remember," Sokka admitted.

He closed his eyes and remembered that tragic day, reciting every detail to Zuko.

He and Katara were throwing snowballs at each other. Sokka had just rolled up a huge snowball and was about to throw it when snut- snow mixed with sut- began to fall. They knew what this meant. Fire nation ships were here. Sokka ran to find his dad and Katara ran to find her mom.

They were only there for a short matter of time, only doing little damage. Everyone was relieved when they were gone, even Sokka, because he didn't yet know of his mother's death.

After he told Zuko this, Zuko asked, "Do you remember the ships?"

"Yeah," Sokka closed his eyes. "Sea ravens."

"The Southern Raiders," Zuko whispered. He smiled at Sokka, "Thanks Sokka."

He climbed out of Sokka's tent and made his way to Katara's.

He waited outside her tent all night for her. Once she woke up in the morning, she walked outside and saw him there. "You look terrible," she said. It came out cruel, but it was truly her motherly instincts. He hadn't slept all night and he looked exhausted.

"I've been waiting here all night. Katara, I know who killed your mother, and I'm going to help you find him," Zuko explained.


	6. Chapter 6: The Southern Raiders

Ch.7

"I wouldn't try firebending again," Zuko threatened, taking a step towards the man.

"Whoever you are, take my money! Take whatever you want, I'll cooperate!" The man pleaded, terrified. He had his arm lifted up in front of his face protectively.

Katara walked forward and pulled the cloth down from over her face. She stared at the man intensely, wishing she could shoot daggers from her eyes. "Do you know who I am?" She asked in a low, deadly voice.

"No," the man replied, staring at the water bender. "I'm not sure…"

He stared at Katara helplessly. She grew angrier. "Oh, you better remember me like your life depends on it!" she screamed. "Why don't you take a closer look?" she growled.

He stared into her blue eyes for a few moments before saying, "Yes, yes… I remember you now! You're the little water tribe girl!"

Lightening flashed behind Katara, making her look like a shadow. For a few moments he saw the face of the terrified little girl whose mother he was about to murder. He heard her mother's reassuring voice say, "Just let her go and I'll give you the information you want."

He remembered turning to the young child and shouting, "You heard your mother. Get out of here!"

The lightening was gone and he now saw the much older, angry girl in front of him. He swallowed hard, knowing why she must be here. "She lied to you! She was protecting the last water bender," Katara admitted, turning her head to the side and closing her eyes.

"What?" the man asked surprised. "Who?"

Katara opened her eyes then quickly turned toward the man. "Me!" she yelled, the anger apparent in her voice. She bent her knees and extended her arms. She then stood straight, tilting her fingers upwards with her arms still pushed out. The rain all around them stopped and she created a sort of roof surrounding them, like someone put a bowl on top of them. Zuko watched Katara in amazement. She then twisted her arms and all the water that was protecting them from the rain followed her movements and she sent it flying towards the helpless man.

Once the water was flying towards him, she bended it into sharp, pointy icicles. The man quickly raised his arms in front of him, a noise of terror escaping his thin lips. Before the icicles reached the man, Katara stopped shooting them. The man released his arms and stared at the icicles inches in front of him, gritting his teeth. She then dropped her hands, releasing the water and letting it fall onto the man, leaving him unharmed.

The man stood up, alarmed. "I did a bad thing. I know I did, and you deserve revenge. So why don't you take my mother? That would be fair," he pleaded.

Katara couldn't believe how heartless this man was. She looked down and closed her eyes, disappointed. "I always wondered what kind of person could do such a thing. But now that I see you, I think I understand. There's just nothing inside you, nothing at all. You're pathetic and sad and empty," she told him.

The old man whimpered, "Please spare me." He dropped his arms to the ground holding himself on all fours. He began to weep.

"But as much as I hate you," Katara growled, "I just can't do it." She closed her eyes and held back tears.

The old man smiled a little, relieved, but still wept. Katara walked away and Zuko turned his

head to look at her, then turned back and glared at the old man, who immediately dropped his head. Without saying anything, Zuko turned and followed Katara. He wanted to hurt the man so bad but knew it wasn't his place to do so. Still, seeing how much pain that man brought Katara really pissed Zuko off.

Katara and Zuko headed back to Appa. This time, Zuko insisted on steering and told Katara to get some rest. She agreed, exhausted. She didn't wake up until they were at camp. Quietly, Zuko watched Katara head off to the river and he found Aang. He told the avatar of everything that happened. Aang quickly jumped on Appa and flew him and Zuko to Katara. Aang ran over to her and said, "Katara, are you okay?"

Katara didn't turn. Aang wasn't the person she wanted to see right now. There was someone else she needed to talk to. "I'm doing fine," she answered.

"Zuko told me what you did, or… what you didn't do, I guess," Aang said. "I'm proud of you."

Katara closed her eyes. "I wanted to do it," she admitted. "I wanted to take out all my anger on him but I couldn't. I don't know if it's because I'm too weak to do it or if it's because I'm strong enough not to."

Katara opened her eyes then felt tears come to them. She held them back.

"You did the right thing. Forgiveness is the first step you have to take to begin healing," Aang said.

Katara stood up and looked at Aang. "But I didn't forgive him," she said. "I'll never forgive him."

She closed her eyes then looked at Zuko. "But I am ready to forgive you," she said as she walked over to him.

His heart was beating as he realized that she would no longer be angry with him. Now they were friends. Well, he wanted her to be more than that, though. But for now, being friends would do. She hugged him, throwing her arms around his neck. He hugged her back tightly. "Meet me in my tent when everyone's asleep," she whispered. She let go of him and walked away. He turned and watched her go.

"You were right about what Katara needed, violence wasn't the answer," Zuko admitted.

"It never is," replied Aang.

"Then I have a question for you… what are you going to do when you face my father?" Zuko asked.

Aang said nothing, unsure of what to say. He looked down, confused. How was he supposed to face the fire lord?

After Zuko made sure that everyone was asleep, he did as Katara instructed and went to her tent. She was sitting down brushing her hair. She looked up when Zuko walked in and smiled. His heart skipped a beat when she smiled at him. Her smile looked so genuine. She had the most beautiful smile he had ever seen.

She stood up and walked over to him. "Come with me," she said. She walked out of the tent and he followed her silently so they didn't wake anyone up. She walked into the woods and proceeded to keep walking until she found a nice little meadow. She turned to Zuko and smiled a little. He wasn't sure what to say, but he didn't need to say anything because right then, Katara wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. His eyes went wide for a minute before he wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her back.

He was surprised by the hug. Although she had hugged him earlier; he still was surprised. Just a few hours ago she had hated him! What changed her mind so quickly? This was all so crazy to him. He couldn't help but not be so surprised!

Zuko looked at the water bender and smilled. He was so glad things had changed between them. He had grown so tired of the fighting between them. Katara returned the smile. She didn't know what it was that changed her feelings about him, but she did know they had definetely changed.

He stared into her eyes and she bit her lip. "Katara," Zuko whispered.

She stared at him silently. He looked up to the sky and remembered all that had happened earlier. He rememered watching the strong water bender face the man who killed her mother. The moon was shining through the trees. It was so beautiful. Zuko recalled how water benders drew power from the moon. Remembering that, he pulled away. There was something he was curious about.

"Katara, what was that you did to the commander?" he asked.

She looked confused. What did he mean?

"You… made that commander move. It was like you were controlling their body. How did you do that?" Zuko questioned.

"Oh," Katara looked down. "It's called blood bending. I don't like to do it," she confessed. "I never wanted to learn how. I hate that I can do it." She closed her eyes. "When we were traveling in the fire nation a while back, an old innkeeper named Hama stumbled upon us. She had heard us talking and knew I was a water bender. She let us stay at her inn for a while. Well, let's just say it turned out she was an old water bender who escaped from the fire nation prison by learning how to bend the blood in someone's body. She called it blood bending. She was using her powers to make people disappear into a cave so they could suffer like she did."

Zuko was listening intently. He watched her as she explained all there was to know.

"She thought those people should suffer like she did. Whenever we found out, she used her abilities to make Aang and Sokka fight, but I overcame her by blood bending her and making her stop. I didn't want to do it, but I had to. If I hadn't, Aang or Sokka could've gotten hurt," she said, tears streaming down her face.

Zuko wiped the tears away and kissed her cheek. "It's okay, Katara, don't cry. You don't have to blood bend."

Katara opened her eyes and smiled weakly. "I know," she whispered.

Zuko stroked her hair softly, comforting the poor girl. He felt bad for her. "Wha-" Katara began, but Zuko covered her mouth.

"There's someone else out here," Zuko whispered.

He took his hand off of Katara and turned around protectively. He got into fighting stance and almost shot fire at the person who appeared in front of him before he recognized the person.

"Well, well, well… I never would've expected this from Sparky and Sugar Queen," said Toph who stood there with her arms crossed, a slight grin on her face.


	7. Chapter 7: Forgiveness

**_Okay, so this chapter isn't very long but I've been busy so yay that I got this written tonight ^.^ I'm definitely gonna be able to write a lot more on the weekends because I have no life and just sit at home all the time haha xD But on the weekdays I'm busy a lot so yeah expect more on the weekends (:  
-xoxo _**  
Ch.8

"Toph! What are you doing here?" Katara shouted.

"I should ask the same thing about you two," Toph said.

Zuko and Katara glanced at each other nervously. Neither of them knew what to say. "Uh, we're just talking," Zuko choked out.

"Talking with what, your tongues?" Toph teased.

Both of their faces grew red. "Toph, please don't tell anyone!" Katara blurted out.

Zuko looked at her, a little hurt. He understood why it had to be a secret, but he had to wonder if she was a little ashamed of him. He looked down.

"Relax, relax, I won't. I already knew you two had crushes on each other. Well, Zuko made it pretty obvious and you kinda overdid the whole being mad at him thing," Toph said. She wondered what this meant about Katara and Aang. "But what about Twinkle Toes? Aren't you, like, his girlfriend?" her heart pounding, hoping Katara would deny it.

Katara looked away when Zuko looked at her. "This isn't the time to talk about it," she said firmly. "I mean, I need to think."

Katara really _did_ need to think. She did like Aang, but… something about Zuko felt so right. Everyone thought she and Aang would be perfect together, and they would be. But maybe she didn't want something perfect. Maybe she wanted something that would take work. Maybe she wanted someone that she would fight with every now and then. Maybe she didn't just want that, maybe she needed that. Wouldn't being with Aang, never arguing, everything being picture perfect… wouldn't that get boring? Katara had to admit she did like bad boys. Aang was exactly opposite from a bad boy. She wondered what life would be like if she was with Aang in ten years. She closed her eyes and for a few moments, imagined what life would be like.

She saw a perfect house with a beautiful garden. The house was two stories. On the inside there was nice furniture. Two kids, one young girl who looked a lot like Aang with her pale skin and arrow on her head, and one boy who looked more like Katara, with tan skin and blue eyes. She saw her whole life, raising perfect kids, having everything be so blissfully perfect. But the whole time she felt like something was missing.

She tried to imagine what life would be like with Zuko. For a few seconds, she tried to bring up images of what life would be like until she realized there _was_ no definite answer to that. There was no way to know with Zuko what would come next, what to expect. He had some kind of thrill to him, something that reminded Katara of… fire. Dangerous, hot, and sometimes it gets out of control and there's no way to stop it. But fire can be good a lot of the time, too. Fire can save your life. Fire is life.

She expected Zuko to be angry with her, but her eyes shot open when she heard him say, "I understand."

She looked at him, surprised. "You do?" she asked in disbelief.

He nodded. "Yeah, I mean, you've been with Aang for a long time and you've only just now kissed me…" he looked at Toph. "Maybe we should talk later though. It's late; we should probably get some sleep."

The next morning, Katara woke early and began making breakfast. Zuko woke up a few minutes after that. They were the only two awake. He wondered outside and saw Katara. She looked over at him and, not thinking, smiled hugely. She didn't know why, but seeing him filled her with so much happiness. "Good morning," she said brightly.

Seeing her so happy made Zuko smile. She was sitting on a log, gathering things to make for breakfast. It was chilly outside and Zuko noticed Katara was shivering. "You're cold," he stated. He watched her carefully as she shrugged.

"I'm fine," she insisted, but Zuko had already taken his shirt off. He had another one under it that was short sleeved. He tossed her the shirt.

"Put it on, you look like you're freezing," he ordered.

"Aren't you cold?" Katara asked.

Zuko shook his head. Katara sighed and put the shirt on. It was large on her, the sleeves much too long. For some reason, this made Zuko chuckle. Katara raised an eyebrow at him, but instead of asking what was funny, she asked him something else. "So, since you're up do you mind starting a fire? You know, for breakfast."

Zuko quickly shot fire on the collection of grass and wood. The fire lit and Katara sat a pot of water on top of it. Zuko watched her as she concentrated very hard on preparing breakfast. She cut up a few ingredients and put them in the pot. She used her waterbending to mix it instead of using a spoon. Once she finished she looked up and saw him staring at her.

"What?" she asked clueless.

He wanted to say, 'Katara, you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. You're so perfect and so amazing; I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You make me so angry yet every time I see you, no matter how mad I am at you, you make me the happiest person in the world. I love everything about you. I love your thick, long hair, your gorgeous blue eyes, your perfectly tan skin, your perfect body… I love you, Katara.'

But instead, all he did was shrug and say, "Nothing."

Katara smiled a little and kept stirring for a few moments. She then put a lid over the pot and sat by Zuko. She looked up at him with her big, blue eyes. "It won't be done for another hour," she hinted.

Zuko grinned down at her. "Wanna go… take a walk in the forest?" he asked. He picked up a strand of her hair and twirled it around his finger then let it fall.

Katara bit her lip and looked around, making sure no one was listening. "Let's go," she said quietly.

She grabbed his hand and led him off into the woods.

They made their way into the forest and to the river, talking about memories from their childhood.

After about forty minutes they began to walk back. They walked hand in hand. Katara thought about how just a few days ago she hated him and now… well, she didn't know what they were now, but she liked it.

"Katara," Zuko said quietly. "What are you going to do about Aang?"

Katara didn't look up. She didn't want to talk about this now. Well, she didn't want to talk about this ever, actually. She sighed and decided she had to answer. "I… don't know. I just kind of wanted to think about it. I mean, who knows what's going to happen after he fights the fire lord?"

Zuko frowned, "You mean you have no idea what you want," Zuko stated.

He was absolutely right. Katara had no idea what she wanted. She frowned and bit her lip. "I mean I just need to think about it. That's what I mean," she argued.

He shook his head but she didn't see. "You know it's only three days before he's going to face my father," Zuko reminded her.

Katara swallowed hard and closed her eyes. "I know," she said quietly. "I just… I don't know."

"Well there's something I need to tell you," Zuko said.

Katara looked up at him. "Okay," she said.

Zuko swallowed hard and looked at the beautiful water tribe girl. He was once again taken by her beauty. "I love you," he whispered, right before he planted a quick kiss on her lips.

Katara kissed him back. Her heart was pounding from the three words he just told her. She didn't know what to say. Did she love him? A part of her was screaming that she did, but another part of her held back. She didn't want to say anything until she was absolutely sure that she loved him.

He pulled away from the kiss and looked at her. He didn't expect her to say anything. He knew she was at a loss of words. He reached up and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. After a few moments she finally said something.

"Zuko, I…" But he cut her off by placing a finger over her mouth.

"Katara, it's okay. You don't have to say anything. I just needed to let you know that. I need you to know that you're the most amazing girl I've ever met and that, if you do choose Aang, I'll be happy for you, because I'm so lucky to have been able to spend time with you. There's no one else I'd rather be in the middle of a forest with," he said with a smile.

Katara smiled back at him. No one, not even Aang, had ever said something so sweet and so… sincere to her. "Speaking of being in the middle of a forest, we should probably get back," she said, pulling his hand. They began walking back and the whole time, Katara was overwhelmed with happiness from what Zuko told her. But something was nagging at her. What _was _she supposed to do about Aang? And what was she supposed to do after Aang fights the fire lord?


	8. Chapter 8: Forgiveness

**_Okay, so this chapter isn't very long but I've been busy so yay that I got this written tonight ^.^ I'm definitely gonna be able to write a lot more on the weekends because I have no life and just sit at home all the time haha xD But on the weekdays I'm busy a lot so yeah expect more on the weekends (:  
-xoxo _**  
Ch.8

"Toph! What are you doing here?" Katara shouted.

"I should ask the same thing about you two," Toph said.

Zuko and Katara glanced at each other nervously. Neither of them knew what to say. "Uh, we're just talking," Zuko choked out.

"Talking with what, your tongues?" Toph teased.

Both of their faces grew red. "Toph, please don't tell anyone!" Katara blurted out.

Zuko looked at her, a little hurt. He understood why it had to be a secret, but he had to wonder if she was a little ashamed of him. He looked down.

"Relax, relax, I won't. I already knew you two had crushes on each other. Well, Zuko made it pretty obvious and you kinda overdid the whole being mad at him thing," Toph said. She wondered what this meant about Katara and Aang. "But what about Twinkle Toes? Aren't you, like, his girlfriend?" her heart pounding, hoping Katara would deny it.

Katara looked away when Zuko looked at her. "This isn't the time to talk about it," she said firmly. "I mean, I need to think."

Katara really _did_ need to think. She did like Aang, but… something about Zuko felt so right. Everyone thought she and Aang would be perfect together, and they would be. But maybe she didn't want something perfect. Maybe she wanted something that would take work. Maybe she wanted someone that she would fight with every now and then. Maybe she didn't just want that, maybe she needed that. Wouldn't being with Aang, never arguing, everything being picture perfect… wouldn't that get boring? Katara had to admit she did like bad boys. Aang was exactly opposite from a bad boy. She wondered what life would be like if she was with Aang in ten years. She closed her eyes and for a few moments, imagined what life would be like.

She saw a perfect house with a beautiful garden. The house was two stories. On the inside there was nice furniture. Two kids, one young girl who looked a lot like Aang with her pale skin and arrow on her head, and one boy who looked more like Katara, with tan skin and blue eyes. She saw her whole life, raising perfect kids, having everything be so blissfully perfect. But the whole time she felt like something was missing.

She tried to imagine what life would be like with Zuko. For a few seconds, she tried to bring up images of what life would be like until she realized there _was_ no definite answer to that. There was no way to know with Zuko what would come next, what to expect. He had some kind of thrill to him, something that reminded Katara of… fire. Dangerous, hot, and sometimes it gets out of control and there's no way to stop it. But fire can be good a lot of the time, too. Fire can save your life. Fire is life.

She expected Zuko to be angry with her, but her eyes shot open when she heard him say, "I understand."

She looked at him, surprised. "You do?" she asked in disbelief.

He nodded. "Yeah, I mean, you've been with Aang for a long time and you've only just now kissed me…" he looked at Toph. "Maybe we should talk later though. It's late; we should probably get some sleep."

The next morning, Katara woke early and began making breakfast. Zuko woke up a few minutes after that. They were the only two awake. He wondered outside and saw Katara. She looked over at him and, not thinking, smiled hugely. She didn't know why, but seeing him filled her with so much happiness. "Good morning," she said brightly.

Seeing her so happy made Zuko smile. She was sitting on a log, gathering things to make for breakfast. It was chilly outside and Zuko noticed Katara was shivering. "You're cold," he stated. He watched her carefully as she shrugged.

"I'm fine," she insisted, but Zuko had already taken his shirt off. He had another one under it that was short sleeved. He tossed her the shirt.

"Put it on, you look like you're freezing," he ordered.

"Aren't you cold?" Katara asked.

Zuko shook his head. Katara sighed and put the shirt on. It was large on her, the sleeves much too long. For some reason, this made Zuko chuckle. Katara raised an eyebrow at him, but instead of asking what was funny, she asked him something else. "So, since you're up do you mind starting a fire? You know, for breakfast."

Zuko quickly shot fire on the collection of grass and wood. The fire lit and Katara sat a pot of water on top of it. Zuko watched her as she concentrated very hard on preparing breakfast. She cut up a few ingredients and put them in the pot. She used her waterbending to mix it instead of using a spoon. Once she finished she looked up and saw him staring at her.

"What?" she asked clueless.

He wanted to say, 'Katara, you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. You're so perfect and so amazing; I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You make me so angry yet every time I see you, no matter how mad I am at you, you make me the happiest person in the world. I love everything about you. I love your thick, long hair, your gorgeous blue eyes, your perfectly tan skin, your perfect body… I love you, Katara.'

But instead, all he did was shrug and say, "Nothing."

Katara smiled a little and kept stirring for a few moments. She then put a lid over the pot and sat by Zuko. She looked up at him with her big, blue eyes. "It won't be done for another hour," she hinted.

Zuko grinned down at her. "Wanna go… take a walk in the forest?" he asked. He picked up a strand of her hair and twirled it around his finger then let it fall.

Katara bit her lip and looked around, making sure no one was listening. "Let's go," she said quietly.

She grabbed his hand and led him off into the woods.

After about forty minutes they began to walk back. They walked hand in hand. Katara thought about how just a few days ago she hated him and now… well, she didn't know what they were now, but she liked it.

"Katara," Zuko said quietly. "What are you going to do about Aang?"

Katara didn't look up. She didn't want to talk about this now. Well, she didn't want to talk about this ever, actually. She sighed and decided she had to answer. "I… don't know. I just kind of wanted to think about it. I mean, who knows what's going to happen after he fights the fire lord?"

Zuko frowned, "You mean you have no idea what you want," Zuko stated.

He was absolutely right. Katara had no idea what she wanted. She frowned and bit her lip. "I mean I just need to think about it. That's what I mean," she argued.

He shook his head but she didn't see. "You know it's only three days before he's going to face my father," Zuko reminded her.

Katara swallowed hard and closed her eyes. "I know," she said quietly. "I just… I don't know."

"Well there's something I need to tell you," Zuko said.

Katara looked up at him. "Okay," she said.

Zuko swallowed hard and looked at the beautiful water tribe girl. He was once again taken by her beauty. "I love you," he whispered, right before he planted a warm, passionate kiss right on her plump lips.

Katara kissed him back. Her heart was pounding from the three words he just told her. She didn't know what to say. Did she love him? A part of her was screaming that she did, but another part of her held back. She didn't want to say anything until she was absolutely sure that she loved him.

He pulled away from the kiss and looked at her. He didn't expect her to say anything. He knew she was at a loss of words. He reached up and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. After a few moments she finally said something.

"Zuko, I…" But he cut her off by placing a finger over her mouth.

"Katara, it's okay. You don't have to say anything. I just needed to let you know that. I need you to know that you're the most amazing girl I've ever met and that, if you do choose Aang, I'll be happy for you, because I'm so lucky to have been able to spend time with you. There's no one else I'd rather be in the middle of a forest with," he said with a smile.

Katara smiled back at him. No one, not even Aang, had ever said something so sweet and so… sincere to her. "Speaking of being in the middle of a forest, we should probably get back," she said, pulling his hand. They began walking back and the whole time, Katara was overwhelmed with happiness from what Zuko told her. But something was nagging at her. What _was _she supposed to do about Aang? And what was she supposed to do after Aang fights the fire lord?


	9. Chapter 9: Time Is Ticking

Ch.9

Later that day, Katara was washing some clothes in a bucket. Sokka and Suki were sitting together, Sokka's arm around Suki's shoulders. They were laughing together happily. Katara felt a twinge of jealousy towards her brother and his girlfriend. She wished she and Zuko didn't have to hide what they had. For a few seconds she could see them sitting there happily just like Sokka and Suki. Then she remembered Aang. Aang, the young air bender who assumed him and Katara would be together. She glanced over at the young avatar. He was sitting next to Toph who was picking on him. Katara wondered why Toph seemed so… okay with catching Zuko and Katara.

She looked at the young earth bender who was laughing at something Aang had said. She saw the slight blush on her face and it hit her. Did Toph have… a crush on Aang? She looked at the two of them and wondered. No, there was no way Toph liked Aang. Was there? Katara considered asking Toph about it. She decided she would later.

Zuko walked out of his tent and Katara immediately smiled hugely when she saw him. He smiled back a little, but Aang noticed Katara and walked in front of her. He was blocking her view of Zuko. Katara looked at the Avatar, a little irritated. "So, it's really good that you forgave Zuko," Aang said.

"Yeah," was all Katara responded with.

"I'm glad; we all need to be nice to each other. Especially with the invasion three days away," Aang stated. He looked down, not having anything to say.

"I know," Katara answered. She tried to look as into washing clothes as she could be. She was trying to avoid the airbender, especially while she was so confused. She was saved by Zuko walking up behind Aang.

"We need to practice," Zuko sounded angry, but he often sounded angry when Aang wasn't practicing and he needed to be.

Aang sighed and walked off with Zuko. Katara watched the two of them head off into the woods to begin training. Katara finished the laundry and was about to leave when Sokka sat beside her. She realized Suki had left. "Where's Suki?" she asked.

"She went to go pick some berries. Hey, Katara, can I talk to you for a sec?" Sokka asked, kind of nervously.

Katara smiled, "Yeah, sure."

Sokka frowned a little. "So, you and Aang… are you two, like, together?" he asked.

Katara frowned and looked down. She didn't want to say yes. "No," she said truthfully.

Sokka looked a little surprised. He had expected her to say something more like, "Not yet," or, "Kinda," but she hadn't. "I thought you were, like, supposed to like him…" he said.

Katara sighed and looked up. "I don't know, Sokka. I _know_ I'm supposed to like him, but things are just so… I just don't think I have feelings for him right now, despite what everyone thinks," she admitted. She didn't know why she was telling this to Sokka- her brother, but it felt good to say it. With everyone expecting her to be with Aang, she felt so much pressure.

"Oh," he replied. "Well, that's good. Take your time, don't rush into it," he said jokingly. He thought that Katara was only being like this because the invasion was so soon. But that actually had nothing to do with it. The invasion could be three hundred days away; it still would have been the same exact answer.

"What about you? And Suki, I mean. Are you two going to get married or anything?" Katara teased.

Surprisingly, Sokka answered with, "Maybe. I mean, I would marry her."

Katara stared wide-eyed at her brother. He was only a year older than she. She couldn't imagine him getting married. Although she had to admit they did seem to really love each other. She could almost picture the two of them being together. Getting married, having a few kids… But she had to wonder if Sokka really wanted that, or if _Suki _even wanted that. She knew what it felt like for everyone to expect that you be with someone who you're not even sure you want to be with. She had to wonder how they truly felt.

"You would marry her?" Katara asked.

Sokka blushed and nodded. "Yeah, I mean after the invasion. I wouldn't do it now, there's no time. I mean, there is, but… you know what I mean," Sokka said.

She did know what he meant. She knew exactly what her brother meant.

Katara had wondered to the lake to practice some waterbending. She raised her arms and began making the water swirl. She was trying to concentrate, but her mind was elsewhere. She had thoughts of the fire bender and the young avatar running through her mind. Why was this so hard? For the longest time, she had thought she would end up with Aang. Everyone had been expecting that! But now, completely out of the blue, her ex-mortal enemy shows up and now she likes him? What was wrong with her?

She wished she had someone she could take to it about. But there was no one, no one at all. She couldn't talk to Zuko because, well, he wouldn't suggest being with Aang at all. And she obviously couldn't talk to Aang about it because he didn't even know about it. She couldn't talk to Sokka or Suki, Sokka would be angry at her and Suki would just tell Sokka. Then she realized Toph was the only person who even knew. Would she be able to give Katara advice, though? Katara decided to keep to herself, though. She had a feeling the young earth bender wouldn't be much of a help in her dilemma. Katara had come to the assumption that the earth bender had a crush on Aang, so she had no reason to doubt that Toph would push her to be with Zuko. Not that she thought Toph was a bad person or a bad friend; she just knew what it was like to want something so badly and not being able to have it.

She sighed and she sat on the pier, her feet dangling off the edge, just barely dipping into the water. She twirled her feet around in circles, the water moving in ripples. She looked out into the water, quietly contemplating her decisions she needed to make. She was beginning to get very frustrated- why did this have to be so hard? Why couldn't she just know who she wanted to be with? Why did this have to be so difficult? It seemed as if the more thought she put into it, the harder it became! Then Katara realized what she had to do. She had to stop thinking so much about this and just… let it happen! She would know what she wanted when the time came, so for now she decided to just go with the flow. The invasion was only in three days, so why fret over love right now?

Katara decided to walk back to the camp. She stood up and made her way through the wild arrange of trees and plants. She walked into the camp and stumbled upon Zuko and Aang practicing firebending.

"Hey Katara," Aang said with a smile. "Wanna watch us practice?"

Katara smiled at the Avatar. "Sure," she said, sitting down on the steps.

Zuko looked over at the beautiful water bender talking to Aang and felt a ping of jealousy run through him. He hated seeing her talk to him, even if they weren't together. He knew Aang had a good chance with her. He watched Katara walk over to the steps and sit on them. Aang walked over to Zuko, ready to practice. Momo ran over to Katara and sat on her lap. She smiled and pet the adorable little creature. She watched and listened as Zuko began talking to Aang.

"There's one technique you need to know before facing my father," Zuko began.

Aang stared at the firebender, waiting for him to continue. Katara looked at Zuko and Aang, noting how much more muscular and taller Zuko was. Aang was almost as tall as Katara and, she had to admit, was a little muscular. But he was nothing compared to Zuko.

"How to redirect lightening," Zuko finished.

Aangs face lit up as he happily realized he was going to learn a very helpful technique. He knew he needed to know how to do this, for the fire lord was sure to shoot lightening at him. Zuko began demonstrating how to redirect the lightening. "If you let the energy in your own body flow, the lightening will follow it. You turn your opponent's energy against them."

Aang happily said, "That's like water bending!"

"Exactly, my uncle invented this technique himself by studying waterbenders," Zuko responded.

Aang was curious to know if the technique truly worked. "So… have you ever redirected lightening before?" he asked.

"Once, against my father," Zuko admitted.

Aang wanted to know more. "What did it feel like?" he asked.

"Exhilarating," Zuko answered as he recalled his father shooting an enormous amount of lightening at him. Zuko had immediately redirected the lightening, shooting it towards his own father. "But terrifying."

Aang's face dropped once Zuko said the last two words. "You feel so powerful holding that much energy in your body, but you know if you make the wrong move it's over."

Aang nervously laughed. "Well, not over over… there's always Katara and a little spirit water action, am I right?" he asked.

Katara answered sadly, "Actually I used it all up after Azula shot you."

"Oh," Aang said, disappointed.

Zuko's voice grew very serious. "You'll have to take the fire lords life before he takes yours."

Aang knew he was right, but he didn't want to do it. It's not like he felt bad for the fire lord, he just didn't want to be the person to kill him, although he wouldn't push it unto someone else. Aang had to admit that if there w_as _a way to win without killing the firelord, he would pick that way in a heartbeat.

"Yeah, I'll just do that," he muttered as Zuko walked away.


	10. Chapter 10: Reuniting

Ch.10

Aang was sitting cross-legged with his food in his lap. Zuko, Sokka, Suko, and Toph were all sitting and eating. Katara cheerfully walked up, holding something in her hand. "I have a surprise for everyone!" she announced happily.

"I knew it! You did have a secret thing with Haru!" Toph announced, teasing the water bender.

Everyone looked at Katara, shocked, thinking Toph was serious. "Uh, no," Katara said. Everyone returned to eating. "I was looking for cooking pots in the attic and I found this!"

She unrolled the paper that was in her hand. It was an adorable picture of a baby boy. "Look at baby Zuko, isn't he cute?" she said, trying to embarrass the fire bender. Everyone but Aang and Zuko laughed. Aang hadn't even looked at the picture.

Katara noticed Zuko's eyes closed. "Oh, lighten up, I'm just teasing," she said.

Zuko opened his eyes. "That's not me. It's my father," he admitted.

Katara, embarrassed, silently rolled the paper back up. Suki broke the silence. "But he looks so sweet and innocent," she stated.

"Well that sweet little kid grew up to be a moster, and the worst father in the history of fathers," Zuko said quietly.

"But he's still a human being," everyone turned when they heard Aang say that.

"You're going to defend him?" Zuko accused.

"No, I agree with you. Firelord Ozai is a horrible person, and the world would probably be better off without him. But there's gotta be another way," Aang said.

"Like what?" Zuko asked.

"I don't know," Aang admitted. "Maybe we can make some big pots of glue and then I could use glue bending to stick his arms and legs together so he can't bend anymore!" Aang said as if that was a good idea.

"Yeah, then you can show him his baby pictures and all those happy memories will make him good again," Zuko said sarcastically. Everyone giggled behind him.

"Do you really think that would work?" Aang asked hopefully.

"No," Zuko shot at him.

Aang sighed, "This goes against everything I learned from the monks. I can't just go around wiping out people I don't like!"

"Sure you can, you're the Avatar. If it's in the name of keeping balance, I'm pretty sure the universe will forgive you," Sokka said.

Aang turned to Sokka. "This isn't a joke, Sokka! None of you understands the position I'm in!" Aang yelled. Sokka cringed, not having expected the young boy to yell.

Seeing Aang yell at her brother made Katara a little angry. "Aang, we _do _understand. It's just-"

Aang cut her off. "Just what, Katara? What?" he yelled.

"We're trying to help!" She shouted angrily.

"Then when you figure out a way to beat the firelord without taking his life, I'd love to hear it!" he yelled and began to walk away.

"Aang, don't walk away from this," Katara said. She was hurt by him yelling but tried not to show it. She couldn't believe Aang was being this way. Since when was he so angry? She began to angrily march after the Avatar, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her from continuing.

"Let him go," Zuko said quietly. Katara stood next to Zuko and looked at him. "He needs time to sort it out by himself."

Katara knew Zuko was right. She sighed and sat down by the rest of the group. Zuko returned to where he had been sitting. Katara closed her eyes for a few moments, then opened them and began eating her food.

The next morning, Aang and Momo were nowhere to be found. They realized the Avatar was missing after they packed all of their things to leave.

"Okay, that's everything," Sokka said.

"No it's not. Where's Aang?" Toph asked.

All of them immediately took off in search of the young boy, but he was gone. Sokka had found his staff, which was strange; Aang always had his staff with him. They decided to check the beach. Sokka spotted his footprints leading out to the water.

"So, he went for a midnight swim and never came back?" Suki asked, confused.

"Maybe he was captured," Katara said worriedly. Zuko heard the worry in her voice and looked at the water tribe girl.

"I don't think so. There's no sign of a struggle," Sokka determined.

"I bet he ran away again," Toph said.

"No, he left behind his glider and Appa," Sokka stated.

Toph shook her head. "Then what do you think happened to him, 'Oh sloothy one'?" she asked sarcastically.

"It's pretty obvious. Aang mysteriously disappears before an important battle. He's _definitely _on a spirit world journey!" Sokka exclaimed.

Everybody stared at Sokka. "But if he was, wouldn't his body still be here?" Zuko asked realistically.

Sokka's face dropped. "Oh yeah, forgot about that."

"Then he's gotta be somewhere on Ember island, let's split up and look for him," Katara suggested.

"I'm going with Zuko!" Toph announced. She wanted to question him about his… relationship with Katara. Everyone was staring at the girl. "What? Everyone else went on a life changing field trip with Zuko. Now it's my turn," Toph said.

Sokka flew on Appa and searched the waters for Aang while Katara and Suki went into town. Meanwhile, Toph and Zuko were searching in the woods for him. "So…" Toph began. She felt a little weird asking about his love life or whatever he considered it. "Are you and Katara, like, together?" she asked nosily.

Zuko's eyes went wide and he choked out, "What? Why would you ask that?"

Toph knew his heartbeat was speeding up. "Because, I can tell you really like her. Your heart always speeds up when you see her or when someone talks about her. Like now, your heart is beating really fast. She's the same way about you," Toph blurted out.

"She does?" Zuko asked before he could stop himself. "I mean, not that I care…"

Toph laughed. "Save it, I know how you two feel about each other. I think it's… cute. I mean, cuter than her and twinkle toes," she said.

She actually wasn't lying.

"Really?" Zuko asked. He smiled a little to himself, glad that Toph wasn't able to see the blush on his face.

"Yeah," she said.

Toph was glad to know that Zuko really did like Katara. She hoped that they would be together soon. Not just because she wanted to be with Aang, but because she didn't think Aang and Katara would last. Sure, they'd be the perfect couple for a while, maybe even a few years. But everybody knew that no matter how much she denied it, Katara always had a thing for bad boys. It was apparent that she liked the mystery of a bad boy, especially Zuko.

Katara had realized that, also. But what about when there was no more mystery? Would she still like Zuko the way she did? There was no way to know.

All of the kids continued to search for Aang.

A few hours later, they all met up and the steps by the camp. Sokka flew over to them on Appa. "Judging by the looks on your faces, I'm guessing you didn't find him either," he said.

Katara was getting very worried now. Everyone else was, but she was the most stressed of all of them.

"No," Zuko answered, "it's like he just… disappeared."

"Hey, wait a minute! Has anyone noticed that Momo's missing too?" Toph asked.

Sokka panicked, thinking that Appa ate Momo. He ran over to the giant beast and opened his mouth, screaming for Momo.

"Sokka, Appa didn't eat Momo. He's probably with Aang," Katara said reasonably.

"We have a real problem here. Aang is nowhere to be found and the comet is only two days away!" Zuko said, worriedly.

"What should we do, Zuko?" Katara asked, looking at the fire bender.

Zuko stood up. "I don't know," he admitted. Everyone was staring at him now. "Why are you all looking at me?" he asked.

"Well… you are kinda the expert on tracking Aang," Katara hinted.

Toph agreed. "Yeah, if anyone's got experience on hunting the Avatar, it's you."

Zuko nodded. "Let's go," he said, climbing onto Appa. Everyone followed silently. "Yip yip," he commanded to Appa.

They began flying over the ocean. "Why are we flying towards the earth kingdom?" Sokka asked.

"You'll see," was all Zuko said.

In a few hours they reached the earth kingdom and Zuko led them to the destination. "And the reason you've brought us to a seedy earth kingdom tavern is what now?" Katara asked.

"Jun," Zuko said, pointing at the woman. She had been the one he went to when he wanted to track down Katara. She had found her easily, so he figured she could help them again.

"Oh yeah, that weird bounty hunter with the giant mole!" Sokka recalled.

"Mole? Her skin is flawless," Suki stated.

"No, she had this giant mole creature she rides around on," Sokka said.

"The Shirshu," Zuko corrected him. "It's the only animal that can track any scent anywhere in the world. It's the only shot we have at finding him," he said, looking at Katara.

"I don't know who this Jun lady is, but I like her," Toph said happily.

Zuko walked over to Jun, followed by the rest of the group. "Oh, great, it's Prince Pouty. Where's your creepy grandpa?" she asked, annoyed. Katara looked at Zuko, who looked a little sad at the mentioning of his uncle.

"He's my uncle, and he's not here," he said quietly.

Jun looked at Katara who was standing very close to Zuko. "I see you worked things out with your girlfriend," she said.

They both blushed and Katara said, "I'm not his girlfriend!" exactly when Zuko said, "She's not my girlfriend!"

Toph tried not to laugh at the way their heartbeats sped up. "Okay, okay, sheesh. I was only teasing. So what do you want?" Jun asked.

"I need your help finding the Avatar," Zuko said.

She laughed a little. "Hmm, doesn't sound to fun," she took a drink of her tea.

Zuko got angry, "Does the end of the world sound like more fun?"

Jun decided to help them. "Let's go," she said quickly. They went outside to where Nyla, the Shirshu, was waiting by Appa. "Okay, who has anything with the Avatar's scent on it?"

"I have Aang's staff," Katara volunteered. Nyla sniffed the staff then began to walk towards Appa. The Shirshu grew confused and walked around the group a few times before dropping to the ground.

"Well what does that mean?" Zuko asked.

"Means your friends gone," Jun replied.

Toph said, "We _know_ he's gone, that's why we're trying to find him."

"No I mean he's g_one _gone. He doesn't exist," Jun admitted.

Katara gasped, she didn't mean Aang was dead… did she?

"There's only one other person in this world who can help us face the firelord. I'll be right back with a smell sample," Zuko said. He walked off to retrieve something. He returned with an old, stinky sandal.

"You saved your uncles sweaty sandal?" Sokka asked.

"I think it's kinda sweet," Toph said.

Nyla sniffed the sandal the immediately began to track the scent. "Let's do this," Jun said.

They began their descent towards Iroh. It took them about twenty four hours to get there. A whole day was spent looking for Iroh. They made it to Ba Sing Se. Jun decided to turn back, knowing she needed to return. "Good luck," she said.

"It's been a long day. Let's camp and start our search again at dawn," Zuko said quietly.

They quickly fell asleep, each of them lying on Appa's legs. They didn't sleep for too long before being awoken by a ring of fire around their campsite. Toph was the first one to wake, sensing that there were people near. Everyone else quickly rose as the saw familiar faces. They saw Bumi along with Master Pakku, Piandao, and Jeong Jeong.

"Pakku," Katara said, bowing to him.

"It is respectful to bow to an old master, but how about a hug for your new grandfather?" Pakku said with his arms open wide.

"That's so exciting! You and Gran-Gran must be so happy to have found each other again," Katara said.

Zuko watched as she happily exchanged chit-chat for a few seconds. He was amazed by how happy she could be for someone. He loved it when she was happy, it made him happy. Zuko snapped back when he heard one of them say they were all members of the white lotus.

"We all came together when we were summoned for something very important by a grand lotus," Pakku looked at Zuko, "your uncle, Iroh of the fire nation."

"Well that's who we're looking for," Toph interjected.

"Then we'll take you to him," said Piandao.

About half an hour later, they were there. Zuko took a deep breath as he walked towards his uncle's tent. He sighed and sat on the ground. Katara walked over to him. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"No, I'm not okay," he admitted. "My uncle hates me, I know it. He loved me and supported me in every way it could and I still turned against him. How can I even face him?" Zuko asked.

Katara's heart ached seeing Zuko in so much pain. She looked around to see if anyone was there. No one was, so she scooted closer to him and put her arm around his shoulder. "Zuko, you're sorry for what you did, right?" she asked.

"More sorry than I've been about anything in my entire life," he answered.

"Then he'll forgive you. He will," she said.

He still looked unsure. "But-"

Katara cut him off by brushing her lips against his. He was shocked for a few moments, but he kissed her back. She kissed him for a few more moments, the taste of his sweet lips so appealing to her. Neither of them wanted the kiss to end; for it was so delicate and sweet. They both wanted more, but Katara pulled away. She smiled at him and watched him stand up and walk to the front of the tent. He took one more deep breath and looked back at the water tribe girl. She smiled again and nodded for him to go in.

He opened the tent and walked inside. "Uncle," he began, and then saw he was asleep. He smiled a little and sat on the floor a few feet away from Iroh. Zuko sat there until his Uncle awoke hours later, right after the sun rose. Iroh stretched his arms out and saw Zuko from his peripheral vision. He did not turn, only he closed his eyes.

"Uncle, I know you must have mixed feelings about seeing me. But I want you to know, I am so, so sorry Uncle," Zuko said, tears spilling over onto his cheeks. He hated himself for hurting his Uncle. He only hoped his Uncle could forgive him for betraying him. "I am so sorry and ashamed of what I did. I don't know how I can ever make it up to you."

Iroh had tears rolling down his cheeks also. He turned around quickly and grabbed his nephew and pulled him into a tight hug. "How can you forgive me so easily? I thought you would be furious with me," Zuko said, still crying.

"I was never angry with you. I was sad because I was afraid you'd lost your way," Iroh said truthfully.

"I did lose my way," Zuko admitted.

"But you found it again," Iroh said, pulling away from the hug and putting his hands on either of Zuko's shoulders. "And you did it by yourself. I'm so happy you found your way here."

Iroh hugged Zuko again, patting him on the back. "It wasn't that hard, Uncle. You have a pretty strong scent."


	11. Chapter 11: The Last Fight

_****THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER! I'm definitelywriting like at least three more chapters. Please review and tell me if I should make just a few more chapters or continue onto Zuko and Katara getting married, the struggles of become firelord in such a divided nation yada yada yada lol let me know! (:**_

Ch.11

"Uncle, you're the only person besides the Avatar that could help us," Zuko begged. They were sitting around in a circle eating.

"No Zuko, it won't turn out well. Even if I did defeat Ozai, it would be the wrong way to end the war. It is not my destiny to defeat the firelord. History would see it as just more senseless violence, a brother killing a brother for power. The Avatar must be the one to defeat him if this war is to end peacefully," Iroh said wisely.

"Then would you come and take your rightful place on the throne?" Zuko asked hopefully.

"No, someone new must take the throne, an idealist with a pure heart and unquestionable honor. It has to be you, Prince Zuko," Iroh said.

Zuko looked shocked. "But I've made so many mistakes."

"Yes, you have made many mistakes. You struggled, you suffered, but you have always followed your own path. You restored your own honor. And only _you _can restore the honor of the fire nation, Zuko," Iroh told him.

"I'll try, Uncle," Zuko promised. He looked at Katara who smiled to him. She thought it was great that he would become firelord. She knew he would be a great firelord.

They locked eyes for a few moments before Toph asked, "Well what if Aang doesn't come back?"

"Sozin's comet is arriving and our destinies are upon us. Aang will face the firelord. When I was a boy, I had a vision that I would one day take Ba Sing Se. Only now do I see that my destiny is to take it _back _from the fire nation so the Earth Kingdom can be free again. Zuko, you must return to the fire nation so when the firelord falls you will take the throne to restore peace and order. But Azula will be there waiting for you," Iroh warned.

"I can handle Azula," Zuko said calmly.

"Not alone, you'll need help," Iroh responded.

Zuko thought it over for a second. He truly did believe he could handle Azula if he really tried. He thought about what Katara would be doing. He decided to ask for her help. He didn't think he'd need it, but she was very skilled at waterbending and, well... Zuko wanted her near him. She gave him confidence and he also wanted to make sure she was safe.

"You're right… Katara," Zuko said, looking up at her, "how would you like to help me put Azula in her place?" Zuko asked.

Katara grinned. Not only would she like to get the chance to hurt Azula, but she was also glad she'd be near Zuko. "It would be my pleasure," she said with a smile.

"What about us? What's out destiny today?" Sokka asked.

"What do you think it is?" Iroh asked.

"I think that… even though we don't know where Aang is, we need to do everything we can to stop the airship fleet," Sokka said.

"And that means when Aang does face the firelord, we'll be right there if he needs us," Toph said happily, glad that she would be close to the Avatar.

Iroh nodded in agreement. They sent Sokka, Toph and Suki on a Giant Eelhound. Everybody said their goodbyes before they departed. Katara and Zuko flew on Appa. They left first, needing to get ther as soon as possible.

On the flight over there, it had grown dark. Sozen's comet was already arriving. Katara was sitting next to Zuko, both of them holding onto the rope used to steer Appa. Katara noticed the worried look on Zuko's face. "Zuko, don't worry. We can take Azula," she said.

"I'm not worried about her, I'm worried about Aang. What if he doesn't have the guts to take out my father? What if he loses?" Zuko asked.

Katara looked at Zuko. "Aang won't lose. He's gonna come back… he has to," Katara said.

"Katara," Zuko said a few minutes later.

"What?" she asked.

Zuko sighed and said, "I just want you to know that… I love you. I mean, I know I already told you and I know what you said, but I just needed to tell you that… just in case something happens."

Katara blushed a little. "Nothing's gonna happen, Zuko. We're gonna win this," she said, smiling at him.

He smiled a little bit. He was confident that they could beat Azula, together.

They found her just before she was going to be crowned firelord. She looked up and saw Appa being guided by Zuko and Katara. They landed Appa and Zuko stood up. "Sorry, but you're not going to become firelord today, I am," Zuko said.

Azula laughed. "You're hilarious," she said.

Katara got off Appa and walked up beside Zuko, "And you're going down," she growled.

"You want to be firelord? Fine, let's settle this- just you and me, brother; the showdown that was always meant to be…Agni kai!" Azula declared.

"You're on," Zuko agreed without a second thought. Katara looked at him, her eyes wide. She had come here to help him, and now all she could do was watch.

"What are you doing? She's playing you. She knows she can't take us both so she's trying to separate us," Katara said.

"I know, and I can take her this time," Zuko said.

"But even you admitted to your Uncle that you would need help facing Azula," Katara said.

"There's something off about her," Zuko stared at his sister's face. Something in her eyes showed that something wasn't right. "I can't explain it, but she's slipping. And this way, no one else has to get hurt," he said.

He was glad Katara didn't have to fight. Now he could protect her. He had done exactly what he wanted and so far his plan was working. Katara only nodded once, but she vowed to help Zuko if Azula started to win.

Azula and Zuko stood about three hundred feet apart. Azula turned around and said, "I'm sorry it has to end this way _brother,_" her voice bitter and sarcastic. She wasn't sorry at all; she didn't even know what sorry meant.

"No you're not," Zuko said. Azula stumbled into fighting position. Zuko could tell she was slipping more and more by the minute.

She took a step towards him and shot her blue fire from her hand. Zuko immediately shot back, the orange flames and blue flames hitting eachother, sending both of them back a little. Azula quickly kicked fire from her feet, doing a series of kicks and spins. Zuko blocked each of her attacks. Azula was growing angrier. She shot more fire at Zuko but he didn't seem to grow weary of blocking the attacks. She began panting and Zuko saw her growing tired. He took this opportunity to shoot a huge blast of fire towards her. Azula jumped out of the way, barely missing the fire.

Using her feet to blast fire, she sent herself towards Zuko, using her hands to shoot large amounts of fire towards her brother. Zuko shot fire from his feet sending him up into the air to block the attacks. He shot fire from his arms and brought it down towards Azula who swerved out of the way just in time.

She made a circle around Zuko, who continued to aim shots of fire at her. Zuko dropped down and used his hands to lift himself off the ground a few inches and spin around, shooting fire all around him from his feet. This knocked Azula down and she tumbled, letting out a sound mixed of pain and anger.

She was panting and on the verge of snapping. She picked herself up and glared at Zuko. She knew she was losing. "No lightening today? What's the matter, afraid I'll redirect it?" he challenged. Katara ran up behind Zuko, stopping about ten feet away from him, ready to help him. He didn't notice her.

"Oh, I'll show you lightening!" She yelled a little psychotically. She growled and created as much lightening as she could and prepared to shoot it.

Zuko calmly got ready to redirect it at his sister and end this battle. Azula glared at Zuko, ready to shoot her lightening. She glanced at the waterbender standing a few feet back and shot the lightening at her, instead. Zuko's eyes followed the direction of the lightening. He saw Katara standing there, terrified. Without even giving a second thought, Zuko ran in front of the lightening yelling, "No!" he tried to redirect the lightening, but failed.

Katara watched in horror as Zuko lay on the ground. Tears welled up in her eyes and she yelled, "Zuko!" she ran towards him, but Azula shot fire in front of her, laughing crazily.

Zuko tried to get up and once again Katara ran over to him. Azula jumped in front of her and Katara narrowly dodged the blue fire sent towards her. Azula was still laughing, making Katara even more scared. Zuko saw Azula shoot fire at Katara again and Katara jumped. When she landed, she rolled and got right back up. Zuko reached towards Katara, trying desperately to regain strength. He needed to help her. He couldn't bear to see her hurt.

Azula began gathering more lightening. "I'd really rather our family physician look after little ZuZu if you don't mind," she said happily.

Katara dodged the lightening but Azula kept shooting fire at her. Katara ran behind a large pole, protecting herself from the fire. Katara stood straight against the pole and looked out at Zuko.

"ZuZu, you don't look so good," She heard Azula say loudly. Azula was watching to see Katara look at Zuko and shot another round of lightening at her when she saw her. Katara ran to another pole, trying to figure a way to win this fight.

Katara looked out and saw Azula, then quickly turned and waterbended the water from the fountain next to her, shooting it at the crazy Princess, but she was gone. Katara turned back around and saw Azula flying through the air by shooting fire from her hands and feet. Katara used the water to move quickly just like Azula used the fire to fly through the air. Katara made the water turn to ice and quickly slid her way across.

Zuko wished Katara would run away so that Azula wouldn't hurt her, but he knew Katara wouldn't do that.

Azula shot fire straight towards Katara, sending her flying off of the ice and back behind the poles. Katara landed on the ground and saw water flowing through the holes in the ground. She looked up and saw chains hanging on the wall and quickly ran to grab them.

Azula turned the corner and saw Katara standing there, the chains in her hand. "There you are, filthy peasant!"Azula growled. She walked slowly towards the water bender. Katara was standing with her hands behind her back. She glared at Azula for a moment before sending a huge blast of water towards her, causing Azula to jump and land on the ground. She rolled and was not standing over the water. Katara brought water up and froze both of them in the ice.

Azula's eyes were the only part of her able to move. They shifted around, worriedly. Katara breathed out of her nose, causing the ice around her head and arms to turn to liquid. She took the chain and tied it around Azula's right hand, then melted some ice to move around to her other hand. She grabbed that hand and chained it, also. Then, she moved the chain through the metal holes in the ground and tied it tightly. Once Azula was tied down, she sent the water back down into the river.

Both of them panted and coughed for having had no air. Katara pulled the chains even tighter and Azula growled, struggling against the tight chains. Katara ignored her and ran over to Zuko who lay in pain.

He grunted; the pain was so intense! Katara grabbed him gently and flipped him onto his back. She pulled some water off of her and shaped it around her hands. She gently put them on top of the wound. Zuko gritted his teeth in pain, trying not to cry out. Katara looked worried until his face relaxed. She smiled hugely and he quietly said, "Thank you Katara."

Tears began to stream down her face and she smiled. "I think I'm the one who should be thanking you. Zuko," Katara smiled even more, "you saved my life. And it's made me realize that... I want to be with you after this is over, no matter what. I never realized how much you meant to me until I thought it was too late and I won't let that happen again. Zuko, I now know that… it's taken me so long to realize it but, I love you."

Katara kissed him passionately. She didn't hold back at all. Tears were still streaming down her face but she didn't care; she was too happy to let anything interfere. They heard Azula screaming and crying, but neither acknowledged it. Zuko put his hands on either side of Katara's face. He felt her warm tears and wiped them away. Eventually Katara pulled away to breath.

"I love you, Katara," Zuko said, panting. Katara was panting also, out of breath from crying and kissing him at the same time.

Katara smiled and helped Zuko stand. They stared at Azula for a few moments. She had completely lost it. She was shooting fire out of her mouth and screaming. Tears streamed down her face as she realized she lost everything.

Zuko put his arm around Katara and held her close. She looked up at him happily. "You did it, you beat Azula. Now you're going to be the new firelord."

"No," Zuko said. "_We_ did it. _We _beat Azula. Katara, after Aang defeats my father, I still want to be together. You just said you do to, so, Katara, I want you to marry me and rule the fire nation with me."

Katara smiled, tears spilling over onto her cheeks. "Of course," she said. She felt overwhelmed- in a good way. She wished she had realized sooner of how she felt about him. She realized how much she loved everything about him. The way he smelt, the way his lips tasted, the warm feel of his body pressed tightly against hers… she loved it when he was mad, when he was happy. She loved that she never knew what he would say or do. She loved him, and he returned every feeling back to her.

She remembered all the times thinking her and Aang were the perfect match, but not she could see that they weren't perfect at all. No, Katara needed Zuko… he was the exact opposite of her. She needed his mysterious personality not Aang's wise, predictable one. She needed Zuko, the one who struggled to be good instead of Aang, who never did anything wrong. She needed Zuko more than she needed air, and it took her this long to realize it.


	12. Chapter 12: Words Unspoken

Ch. 12

Katara and Zuko were sitting, watching Azula. They knew the invasion was almost over, but they refused to leave the deranged girl in fear she would escape. Katara was sitting in beside him, leaning against him. He had his arms wrapped around her tightly. He rested his head on her shoulder and she turned her face a little to see his. "Zuko… how am I going to tell Aang?" she asked. She felt a pang of guilt knowing the Avatar was expecting her to love him.

Zuko sighed, unsure on how to answer. "Well, I think you should just be honest with him. I mean, you love me right?" he asked.

Katara smiled and nodded, "More than anything," she whispered truthfully.

Zuko smiled and said, "Then it'll be okay. I don't know how he'll react but I'll be there for you no matter what happens."

Katara replied only by kissing him softly. She would have continued if it wasn't for the bright light shining straight up into the sky. She noticed it and pulled away. She stood up, followed by Zuko. "What is that?" Katara asked, astonished.

"I think it means this is over," Zuko said quietly. They turned around when they heard footsteps running up behind them.

It was Sokka, Suki, and Toph. "Sokka!" Katara yelled, embracing her brother tightly. "What happened? Are you all okay? Do you know what happened?" Katara rushed through each question, needing answers.

Sokka pulled away, smiling hugely. "He beat him, Katara! He took the fire lords bending and didn't even kill him! He's taking him to a prison right now. Katara, he won, the war's over!" Sokka said ecstatically.

Suki ran over and hugged Sokka and Katara, followed by Toph and surprisingly, Zuko. He wasn't one for group hugs, but he couldn't help it. They heard Azula screaming and crying having heard the news.

Suki looked at the crazed girl chained to the ground. "Is she okay? Like, mentally? She seems a little…"

"Crazy," Sokka inserted.

Katara and Zuko glanced at each other. "She lost it. I mean, she was already slipping when we started to fight but… she really lost it when Katara beat her," Zuko said.

"When _we _beat her," the water bender said.

"What happened? How'd you two win?" Sokka asked.

"When we got here, Azula challenged me to an Agni Kai. So it was just us fighting until Azula began to lose. She realized I was winning and shot lightening at Katara, but I jumped in front of her and Azula shot me instead," Zuko said, motioning to his wound.

Sokka and Suki looked at the wound. They hadn't even noticed it before. "It doesn't hurt, does it? I can use my healing powers again if you want," Katara offered.

Zuko smiled at the water bender. "I'm okay for now. We need to focus on getting Azula to the prison," Zuko responded.

Katara nodded and the group made their way over to the screaming girl. "Somebody shut this thing up," Toph complained.

Just as Sokka opened his mouth to say something, Aang ran up followed by two girls, Mai and Ty Lee. "Guys, I won! I beat the fire lord! And Zuko, you beat Azula, that's great! Look who I found in the prison when I took Ozai," Aang said quickly, his words jumbled together.

"Zuko," Mai said emotionlessly. Her face was emotionless, but she ran to Zuko and hugged him tightly.

Katara swallowed hard, trying not to show her jealousy. She didn't like Mai hugging Zuko, even if she knew Zuko had just asked Katara to marry him.

Mai pulled away from the hug and looked Zuko in the eyes. "We need to talk," she insisted.

"You two can stay and talk while the rest of us get Azula to the prison," Aang offered.

Katara wanted to yell at the young Avatar. She did not want Zuko and Mai alone together. What if Mai tried to kiss him? What would Zuko do? Did he have any feelings for Mai? Katara didn't know. Zuko looked at Katara and although no one else noticed the jealous look on her face, Zuko noticed and thought it was absolutely adorable. She didn't need to be jealous of Mai. He had realized a long time ago that him and Mai weren't going to work out and had accepted it. Now all he had to do was tell Mai that he no longer had feelings for her.

He turned to the fire nation girl and saw something in her eyes. Was it… no, there was no way _Mai _was crying. She never cried, or laughed, or felt any emotion. But here she was, tears falling from her eyes as the others walked away with the crazed Azula.

"Mai," Zuko began, but she didn't let him speak.

"Do you love me?" She blurted out.

Zuko's eyes went wide as he realized he would have to tell the girl the truth. "Mai, I…"

"_Do you love me?_" She repeated, angrily.

Zuko swallowed hard and closed his eyes. "Mai…" Was all he said.

She turned away, crossing her arms. "Then you don't love me," she said quietly. She closed her eyes and let tears spill over and roll down her cheeks. A huge part of her expected this to happen, but a small part silently hoped that he still wanted her, that he still loved her.

"Mai, look… I know we had something; I can't deny that. But, I mean, people grow away from each other. I know it probably hurts but I just don't think we can be together anymore. I'm sorry, Mai," Zuko said, feeling very guilty for breaking the girl's heart.

"It's the water bender girl, isn't it?" Mai asked without turning to Zuko.

He stayed silent, not wanting to confirm or deny anything.

Mai turned around quickly, tears stinging her eyes. "So I was right, it is that girl! Why, Zuko? Am I not good enough for you? Am I not pretty enough? Is it because she's a bender? Tell me something, Zuko! I deserve an explanation for why you're choosing _her,_ the one who _hated_ you,over me, the one who's always loved you!" Mai screamed.

"I love her because she's so kind, and so loving. You don't understand, Mai, but she's everything I need. You and I… we're too much alike. I need someone different, someone who smiles and laughs a lot. I need someone who knows exactly what to say when I need comfort. Mai, you're an amazing girl and you're perfect… for someone else. You're exactly like me, and that's not what I want… it's not what I need," Zuko admitted.

Mai looked at Zuko. "What about what I want? What about what I need?" She asked.

"You'll find someone, Mai, and you'll realize that I'm not what you need," Zuko said quietly.

"Obviously you don't know me, Zuko. I thought you did, but you don't because if you did you would know that I need you," Mai said, walking off with tears streaming down her face.

After Katara, Aang, Sokka, Toph and Suki got Azula chained up into the prison cell, Aang turned to Katara. "Can we talk? Alone…" Aang asked.

Katara swallowed hard. She knew what it was about. Since the invasion was over, she knew he was expecting an answer from her. But how could she do it? She knew she had to; she wanted to… it was just so impossible. Katara only nodded and followed him through a small path in the woods.

"Katara, there's something I need to tell you," Aang began.

"And there's something I need to tell you," Katara admitted.

Aang swallowed hard and said, "Let me go first. Katara… I really like you. I mean, I love you, Katara."

"Aang…" Katara said quietly.

"Just listen," the Avatar insisted. "I do love you, but I don't think you love me… I realized that back at Ember Island. I could tell you were trying to distance yourself from me a lot. And I know why…"

Katara's face turned a bright hue of red. "W-why?" she asked.

"Because I kissed you before and you didn't have feelings for me then. I understand, Katara," he tried to sound sincere, but she saw his eyes well up with tears for a second, but he looked away.

She bit her lip, not sure how to explain the situation to him. "During the battle with Ozai, I was watching Sokka, Toph, and Suki fight off some ships. I realized something, Katara. I realized that, although I have feelings for you and it hurts that you don't return those feelings, I've been treating someone the same way. So there is no way I could ever possibly be angry with you… I've been totally ignoring Toph. I had no idea she had feelings for me though, until I heard her speaking with Suki," the airbender admitted.

"Aang, Toph really does like you, and, to be honest, she's the complete opposite of you, which is why you two would be good for each other. I mean, you're the wise, kind person and she's the rude, funny, obnoxious person. I've come to realize in these past few weeks that the person who seems perfect for you isn't and the one who seems like it would never work out with is, well, I don't know how to say it. They're not perfect, yet they are. They contradict you, correct you and they make you a better person," Katara told him.

Aang looked at the water bender and made a shocking realization. "You're… you're with Zuko, aren't you?" he accused.

Katara's eyes went wide, a little shocked. He sounded so angry, but she wasn't going to deny it. "Aang," she said, not wanting to give him an answer.

Aang closed his eyes, shaking with anger.

"Aang, you just said you were going to be with Toph and that you were okay with us not being together, why are you getting so upset about Zuko and I being together? It's not even your business, anyways!" Katara shot at him.

"But it is my business! You hated him, Katara! And now you just… you choose _him _over me?" Aang yelled at her.

"Weren't you the one who wanted me to forgive him? How could you be so-" but he cut her off.

He grabbed the water bender by the shoulders tightly and kissed her. The kiss was rough and Katara angrily tried to push him away. She managed to use her arms to push him back fiercely. He stumbled back a few steps. Her shoulders ached because of the force he'd used to grip onto them. She swore he'd bruised it pretty badly. She hadn't known he was that strong.

Aang realized that he'd hurt Katara. "Katara, wait, I'm sorry… I shouldn't have done that. Katara…" Aang said quietly.

"Aang, I think we both should think about this. If you think in maybe a few months that we can still be friends, then I'll be here, in the fire nation," she was very angry at him and, purely out of anger, added, "with Zuko."


	13. Chapter 13: Speaking The Truth

Ch. 13

Katara made her way back to find Zuko. She'd hoped that by now he was done talking to Mai, but she'd hoped even more that nothing had happened when they were talking. It wasn't that she didn't trust Zuko to control him, but what if he had feelings for Mai still? She didn't think he did, but then again Zuko was always surprising her. That was something she loved about him, but she wouldn't love it now if he did what she expected him not to do.

She found him sitting against the wall, looking down. He hadn't noticed her yet. She walked up to him and his head popped up when he heard her footsteps. He stood up and smiled; glad to see she wasn't with Aang. He was about to greet her when he noticed that she had a strange look on her face. She noticed his concern and tried to hide it.

"What's wrong?" he asked, taking her hand. He worried that maybe she was having second thoughts.

She decided to tell him part of the truth. "Nothing," she answered. "I told Aang, though."

Zuko smiled a little, "That's good, isn't it?" he asked.

She forced a smile. Yes, _that _was good, but Aang had kissed her. She noted that her shoulders still ached. When had he gotten so strong? "Yes, but he was a little sad, and angry," she answered.

"He'll get over it. He's a strong kid, besides, he and Toph have something going on… or they will," Zuko tried to cheer Katara up a little. He thought she was feeling guilty for hurting the poor boy, but that honestly wasn't it at all.

"I know," Katara said. "What did you say to Mai? I mean, did you tell her?" she asked, trying not to sound nosy, but the words spilled out.

Zuko looked down. "She was mad, and sad, but she'll get over it. We weren't right for each other… she didn't handle it too well, but I'm sure she'll move on," he said quietly.

Katara smiled, relieved to hear that nothing happened. Although that news made her happy, she was still a little pissed off. She looked down, feeling anger at Aang, still. Zuko noticed the look on her face, and, thinking she was unsatisfied with what he had said, grabbed her by the shoulders to pull her in for a kiss.

"Ow!" Katara yelped, wincing from the pain still shooting through her shoulder that was now intensified.

Zuko pulled his hands away. "What did I do?" he asked, worried.

"N-nothing, my shoulder just, um…" Katara tried to think of an excuse.

"Did someone hurt you?" Zuko asked, worriedly.

Katara swallowed hard, still trying to think of an excuse. "I… ran into a tree running back to find you and it bruised my shoulder, that's all," she lied.

Zuko frowned. "Let me see it," he insisted.

Katara's face went red as she realized he would see the large bruise. "Why? It's just a bruise," she argued.

"Then let me see it," he said stubbornly.

She sighed, knowing there was no way out of it. She hoped it wasn't that bad. She untied her belt and let the dress hang loose and she pulled one side down, revealing her upper arm. She looked at the bruise and gasped. It didn't matter that she gasped; Zuko had seen exactly what she saw. The bruise was shaped exactly like a handprint, and Zuko knew that she had lied. She stumbled back and tried pulling the dress back up all the way, but she ended up dropping the other side, revealing another gruesome handprint.

"Katara, what happened?" Zuko demanded, angrily. He wasn't angry at her a whole lot, he was more angry at whoever had done this to her.

"Calm down," she said, realizing how angry he was. She held her dress together as she fumbled trying to fix it.

"Calm down? You want me to _calm down? _Katara, who did this to you? Who hurt who?" He yelled.

"Zuko," she stalled. She knew he was going to make her tell him, but she really didn't want to.

"Tell me," he demanded.

"Fine," she muttered, finally finishing tying her belt. "It was… well, I was talking to Aang and I told him-" he cut her off.

"Aang did this?" he growled.

"Well, he was angry and he grabbed me and kissed… I mean he grabbed me," she noticed how angry he was.

"He kissed you?" he hissed. His voice was low and deadly. It gave Katara goose bumps.

Usually when he was angry he yelled, but this time it was different. He was a whole new kind of angry, he was past furious.

"No, not really. I mean, yes, but, no, he didn't. Well, he kissed me but I pushed him away. I mean, yeah, he kissed me, but you don't need to get so mad, it's not like…" Katara trailed off as Zuko walked away. "Wait, where are you going?" She yelled.

She ran after him as he quickly made his way into the woods. "Zuko," Katara grabbed his arm.

He stopped and turned, looking at the waterbender. "What?" he asked.

"Zuko, you can't go out there and do something stupid. I mean, he's the Avatar. He took the fire lord- or should I say ex fire lord's bending away. He's dangerous to mess with, Zuko," Katara said quietly.

Zuko said nothing, but only kissed the girl passionately. He pulled away and she was a little stunned, not having expected him to kiss her. She had expected something more like anger, but not a kiss. She blinked a few times, and then heard him say, "I think you underestimate how dangerous _I _am." And then he was gone.

"Zuko? Wait!" She called out, but he was already gone. She looked to the side just as soon as a sharp, flying blade came soaring towards her. She ducked, barely missing the terrifying knife.

"This is what you get for stealing the man I love!" she heard an angry voice shout.

She knew that voice. That emotionless, cold voice. She also knew exactly why that person was here. "Mai," she whispered, getting into battle stance. She opened her water pouch, ready to fight. But right as she was about to attack, she felt quick jabs that caused her to lose first her arms, then her legs, finally to the point where she couldn't even move her head.

She knew exactly who that was, also. "I had an old friend help me," Mai said bitterly. She walked up to Katara, holding a knife in her hand.

"Why are you doing this?" Katara asked, scared.

"You know why!" Mai shouted. She lifted her hand to throw the blade, but she heard footsteps behind her.

"What are you doing?" Katara heard another familiar voice shout.

It was Sokka! Oh, she felt relief wash through her.

"Katara?" She heard Toph ask.

It was Toph, also! She was so thankful they were here. She had been so terrified. She barely turned her head to see Mai and Ty Lee facing Sokka and Toph. "Help me," Katara whimpered.

Toph made the first move, earth bending the ground and causing Mai to slip and fall. Sokka drew his sword, swiping towards Ty Lee, who gracefully jumped to the side, happily avoiding the sword. Ty Lee quickly jabbed him in the back, causing him to fall.

"Sokka!" Katara shouted.

She saw Toph shooting rocks at the two girls who quickly dodged them. Katara knew Toph was going to lose, and she panicked as she tried to think of a solution. She looked up to the sky and saw the full moon. Even the sight of it sent electricity through her, knowing she was more powerful under the moon. She closed her eyes, trying to summon the strength to rise. She slowly and clumsily stood up, surprised that she was able to defeat Ty Lee's chi blocking attacks.

Ty Lee went to take a jab at Toph right as Mai went to throw a blade. Katara panicked and, unthinkingly, lifted her hands. She blood bended them both so that they stood straight. "What's happening?" Mai asked, scared.


	14. Chapter 14: A Visitor

Ch. 14

_**Okay, so, I've decided that there's probably going to be like 30 chapters (but im not too sure, thats just a hope lol) in this whole story because I have an amazuuuummmm idea and I think it'll work great so that was just an fyi (:  
Thanks so much to those who are following my story, those who have favorite it and those who've reviewed, it means a lot! (: **_

_**-DELILAH**_

Zuko took a deep breath, nervously. He swallowed hard, concentrating on trying to look calm. "It's okay, Zuko. Don't worry," Katara comforted him. "It's your destiny to be the Fire Lord; everything will work out."

Zuko wasn't comforted by her words. What if everyone hated him? What if they were still on his father's side and decided they wanted to do something terrible, like murder him? He was getting very nervous for his coronation.

"Zuko, you can do this," Katara encouraged him.

He turned to her and felt his stomach lurch. She had been given new clothes as her water tribe outfit was dirty. She looked so different in the outfit she had been given. It was a loose, red dress that made her beautiful blue eyes stand out. It had the usual point at the edges of the shoulders and the gold collar. There was a belt around it, which was a darker red and had the fire nation insignia.

She had refused to let anyone do her hair. She preferred to keep half of it down and pull the other half into a bun. And of course, she had her signature hair loopies hanging.

She looked so beautiful that Zuko sucked in a breath of air, afraid that if he even breathed he could alter her delicate structure. She smiled at him gently.

"I'll be here," she said, hinting for him to go outside to begin the ceremony.

He looked down the back at her. She wished that she could be with him, but he talked her out of it.

"Zuko, are you sure you don't want me to be there with you?" he remembered her asking.

"Katara," he tried to think of how to explain this, "I don't know how people would… handle it. I mean, I don't even know how they're going to handle the coronation to begin with, but I'm just afraid that if they saw you there… well, people know who you are, that's all. I want to give them some time to trust me before springing in and telling everybody that we're together. The nation is so divided right now; I don't want anything to happen to you."

"I can handle it, though. I knew this when I told you I wanted to be with you. It's worth it, Zuko, I'm not worried about anything," she argued.

"Please, Katara," he begged. "I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to you."

She sighed and agreed to stay.

He snapped back to reality after remembering the conversation. Katara wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him quickly, hoping it would calm him. "You can do this," she whispered into his ear.

He kissed her forehead and smiled a little at her. "Go on," she encouraged.

He walked to the door and turned to look at her one more time. She smiled hugely at him. "I love you," she said.

He was about to say it back when the Guard said, "Okay, it's time to go," and pushed him through the door.

Zuko found himself standing on the balcony in front of thousands of people. There stood the man holding the crown- which was a small fire nation insignia hair clip. Zuko had had his hair the way he used to wear it. It was tied back neatly in a bun. Zuko walked up to the man, standing beside him.

The man proudly said, "It is my honor today to be crowning Prince Zuko the new Fire Lord!"

People cheered and clapped, to Zuko's surprise. He felt a great rush of pride move through him. This was it, he was finally being crowned Fire Lord. The man looked at Zuko and held the fire nation crown up. "Under the oath of the Fire Nation, I now proudly declare Prince Zuko the new Fire Lord!" and with that, he clipped the pin into Zuko's hair. People cheered and Zuko walked to the edge of the balcony. He was about to saw something when everyone began to bow down.

One after another people bowed down, showing their respect to the new Fire Lord. Zuko was shocked; he hadn't expected such a positive reaction from them. He smiled a little.

Once everyone stood back up, Zuko opened his mouth and began talking. He had had a whole speech planned out, but he instead just let the words flow. Those written words seemed to mean nothing compared to what he was about to say. He hadn't been sure on how the Nation was going to react so he had kept it simple. But now, the words just came out.

"I would like to thank my Nation for accepting me as your Fire Lord. I know I have had a rough past in the Fire Nation- we all are aware of that. For a long time I was so lost. I was trying to hunt the Avatar because I thought it would redeem my honor. But now, after so many long years, I've come to realize that honor is something that's within you. Our Nation has been lost, just as I was. We had lost our honor because we lost ourselves. But we as a Nation will do just as I did. After l helped the Avatar defeat my father, I was asked to become Fire Lord. I hadn't had any idea of what to do and I knew it would be a difficult task," Zuko said.

Katara had her ear pressed against the door, listening to his moving speech. She was so proud of him.

"I had always thought that my destiny was to find and kill the Avatar, but it turns out, as a very wise man once told me, you make your own destiny. Now I see that helping the Avatar was a part of my destiny and becoming Fire Lord is another part of it.

"Our Nation had been told its' destiny was to become the most powerful Nation in the world. But we have changed that. Our Nations' destiny isn't something that is to be spoken. It is something that will come to be. Nobody can tell you what will happen in the end, because for all we know something could completely change."

And with that, Zuko bowed to his people. It was not something most Fire Lords do, but Zuko wanted his people to know _he _respected _them._ People gasped, not having expected him to be so kind as to bow to them. Zuko stood proudly and smiled. He then turned and walked back through the doors.

Katara stood the the side, smiling at him. He walked up to her and she bowed. "Fire Lord Zuko," she greeted him.

He laughed and wrapped him arms around her, pulling her in for a warm hug. She smiled and hugged him back tightly, immensly impressed by his amazing heart warming speech. She was aware that that speech had not been the one he had been planning to read.

He took her left hand and said, "Come on, I've never gotten the chance to show you around the whole castle." But he wouldn't get to yet, because two guards stepped walked into the room.

"Excuse me, Fire Lord, but you have a visitor," One of the guards announced.

"Who is it?" Zuko asked.

"She refused to state her name, but she insisted it was a dire emergency to speak with you," the other guard answered. "She is waiting for you downstairs, that is if you want to meet her. If not, we will have her escorted out."

Katara and Zuko glanced at each other. Zuko wondered who it could be. He figured it was probably Mai. But then again it could have been Toph, or even Suki. Maybe even Katara's grandmother, Gran-Gran, had traveled here to see Katara. Who knew who it was? But Zuko decided to meet with the woman.

"Okay, I will go meet her," he glanced at Katara, figuring it would probably be best for her to stay here. He wouldn't put it past Mai, or even an angry fire nation citizen, to attack Katara.

Katara nodded once, knowing she was going to have to stay. Zuko looked at the guards, "You two stay here and guard Katara, in case anything happens," he ordered.

The guards nodded and bowed to Zuko as he passed by them. Zuko walked down the stairs and into the huge room that led to the front doors of the castle. He saw a woman in earth kingdom clothes. She had a large hat on that covered her face when she tilted her head down. Zuko couldn't tell who the woman was, but he did know it wasn't anyone he had expected it to be.

The woman had her eyes closed.

"You wanted to meet with me?" he asked, curious to who the woman was and why she was here.

The woman's eyes shot open and tilted her head up a little so that she could see Zuko but he still couldn't see her.

"Zuko," she whispered very quietly.

It was such a whisper that Zuko could barely make out what she said. Zuko opened his mouth to say something when the woman ran to him and hugged him tightly. All the guards got prepared to attack but she pulled away, crying.

"I thought I would never see you again," she sobbed.

"M-Mom?" Zuko asked, shocked.

He motioned for the guards to relax. The woman wiped her tears and took the hat off, revealing her long dark black hair and golden eyes. Zuko had her eyes. He looked quite a bit like his mother. His mother, who he hadn't seen in so long. His mother, the woman standing in front of him at this very moment.

"Zuko, it's so good to see you. I've missed you more than anything in the whole world," she said, smiling through her tears,

Zuko hugged his mother tightly and felt tears well up in his eyes.

"I thought I'd never see you again," he admitted. He pulled away and looked at his mother. He couldn't believe she was here, right in front of him. He hadn't even been sure if she was alive.

"I know," she said. "But now that you're Fire Lord, I knew it was time to find you. I'm so proud of you Zuko. I'm so proud of everything you've done," she said proudly.

He smiled and said, "So I'm guessing you know everything that happened pretty much."

"Yes," she smiled. "Well, except one thing…"

She frowned and looked at Zuko. "Where's Azula?" she asked.

Zuko frowned. "She's been transferred to a mental hospital and is receiving treatment. Ka- me and some people talked it over and decided to try and help her. We think there's something… wrong with her," he said, concerned. "Her friend, Ty Lee, had blocked her bending so that she can't hurt anybody right now. We still haven't decided whether or not to fully take her bending like we did to… well, you know."

Ursa nodded. "Ty Lee, the little girl with the braid who joined the circus. I remember her," she said. Then she smiled, "And I remember Mai, too. She had such a huge crush on you. I heard you two were together a while back…"

Zuko frowned even more, "We were together. But things didn't work out," he said. "I'm actually with someone else," he admitted with a smile. "We've been together for a while now."

"Oh really? Who?" Ursa said with a smile. She was happy to see Zuko finally so happy.

Zuko smiled and turned to one of the guards. "Can you go get Katara? She's right up stairs," he ordered.

The guard bowed and walked up the stairs. Katara was sitting in a chair, patiently waiting.

"Excuse me, Princess Katara," the guard said.

She had been called Princess Katara ever since they got to the castle a day ago. Zuko had announced to all the guards that she was betrothed to him and since he was Fire Lord, she was considered a Princess until they were married, then she would be addressed as 'Queen Katara' or 'Fire Lady Katara.'

"Yes?" she asked.

"Fire Lord Zuko wishes for you to join him and the woman he is speaking with," the guard answered.

Katara stood up, wondering who the woman was. She followed the guard down the stairs and saw Zuko chatting with the woman. Zuko turned and smiled brightly at Katara.

"Katara, I would like you to meet my mother, Ursa," Zuko said.

Katara's eyes went wide as she realized she was meeting his mother. She bowed respectfully. She stood back up and she, "It's so nice to meet you." She made one hand a fist and put the other against it, her fingers straight up, the fire nation greeting. She bowed her head a little as she said those words.

"It's very nice to meet you, Princess Katara," Ursa greeted happily.

Ursa looked at Katara and realized she didn't look like she was from the fire nation. Most people from the fire nation had pale skin and dark black brown or just pitch black hair, along with dark eye colors. But Katara looked nothing like that with her tan skin and brown hair that had almost a reddish tent to it. Plus, she had her sparkling beautiful blue eyes. Ursa then realized who she was talking to.

"You're the girl who was traveling with the Avatar!" she exclaimed, now recognizing the name, also.

Katara smiled a little. "Yeah, that's me…" she said.

"I've heard so much about you! You're a water bending prodigy," Ursa said, amazed.

Katara smiled more. Ursa glanced at Katara's water tribe necklace and knew what it was. "Is this your betrothal necklace?" she asked, wondering if maybe Zuko had gotten Katara a water tribe one to make her happy or something.

Katara put her hand on her necklace. "No, we don't have one yet. This was my mother's," she explained.

"It's beautiful," Ursa complimented.

"Thank you," Katara said with a smile. She got a little sad speaking about her mother. She wished that her mother could show up out of nowhere like Ursa had.

She grew sad thinking about her mother. Thinking about her mother also made her think about her father and Sokka. She knew they were escorting Aang and Toph backto the Earth Kingdom because Toph's parents finally decided to accept her for her, but she still worried. She missed them terribly; she just wanted everyone to be together again.

Ursa looked at Zuko and asked, "Where's your Uncle Iroh?"

"He's in Ba Sing Se where he owns a tea shop now," Zuko answered.

Katara clenched her necklace tightly and pictured her mother's face in her mind. She was extremely happy about Ursa returning, but something about her reminded her of her own mother. Maybe it was the kind look in her eyes, or the way she brushed a piece of Zuko's hair back when it was slipping out of his bun. Katara remembered her mother always brushing wisps of hair behind her ear multiple times because Katara always messed it up playing with Sokka. Or maybe it was the way Ursa laughed. It reminded Katara of her mother's, a soft, down to earth laugh that sounded so genuine and happy. Katara felt that emptiness ache inside her. She felt it often when she thought of her mother.

Katara bit her lip and said quietly, "I need to go… use the bathroom."

She walked away with tears in her eyes.


	15. Chapter 15: Dreams

Ch. 15

_**Hey everyone, I just wanna say thanks for your support and for all the reviews/PM'S! And of course for everyone who favorited and the ones who are following it means a lot! If anyone has any suggestions or corrections feel free to leave a review or PM me! I'd love to hear it (: also, my chapters are probably gonna start getting longer, I just really wanted to finish this one tonight and had part of the next chapter in this one, but I felt like it would be better split up so chapter 16 will be up tomorrow and that's why this one is shorter. -Delilah 3**_

Katara made her way to the room and walked over to the bed. She sat down on it and wiped the tears that were now streaming down her face. She clutched onto her mother's necklace like her life depended on it. She wondered what had gotten into her. It had been seven years since her mom was murdered, and she still cried about it quite often. She wished that _her _mother had been able to escape and know about everything she'd done. She wished that _her _mother could show up and meet Zuko. She wished that _her _mother could see all that she'd done and the people she's helped and be immensely proud of her.

She thought about what her mother would say if she had known of all the things Katara had done. Taking on all her mother's responsibilities, finding Aang in the iceberg, helping him learn water bending, meeting a water bending master, helping the people in that fire nation village, meeting The Painted Lady, falling in love with Zuko, helping him beat Azula…

Katara wondered about that fire nation village. She hoped that they were doing well. She wanted to go back to that village and make sure that they were… she decided to ask Zuko about going. She needed to know that they were doing good as she had left them.

She was still crying but not as heavily, and her cheeks were still wet and her eyes were still red. She realized she'd been gone for a few minutes now, and she knew she should return. She hadn't meant to seem rude, but she hadn't wanted to break down and lose it right then and there, and she knew she was going to. She stood up and tried to compose herself, but she heard a knock at the door.

"Katara?" she heard Zuko call her name.

She stayed quiet, not wanting him to see her like this. She knew it was dumb, because he obviously knew she was in there. She wiped her cheeks from the tears but that didn't stop them from coming. Zuko opened the door, wondering why she didn't answer. Katara looked at her hands, her face tilted down. She tried to look like she wasn't crying, but Zuko saw a tear drop down onto her hand and she wiped her cheeks again.

"Katara, what's wrong?" Zuko asked worriedly, walking over to the water bender and sitting beside her. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and pulled her close to him, his heart aching for her.

"It's nothing," she muttered, turning her face into his chest so that her face was hidden.

"Katara," Zuko said, pulling away to look her in the eyes. "What's wrong, sweetie?" he asked, using one of his hands to tuck her hair behind her ear.

Katara's heart skipped a beat. That was the first time he'd ever called her anything other than her name, and it made her want to smile. But at the same time it brought more tears to her eyes as she inadvertently realized that 'sweetie' was the last thing her mother called her.

"Zuko," she looked down. "It's nothing, just… I don't want to sound stupid, it's just your mom reminded me of mine and…" she closed her eyes tightly, more tears spilling over.

Zuko put his hand under her chin and tilted her face up. She looked up at him for a few seconds, but tears blocked her vision. He used his other hand to wipe her tears away.

She just knew he was thinking about how much of a drama queen she was. But the truth was he knew exactly what she was saying. "Katara, it's okay. I would be doing the same thing if it were reversed. You don't sound stupid, you sound rational; you have every right to feel this way. I never even considered that you might react like this, I was selfish to have you…"

Katara interrupted him by wrapping her arms around him and kissing him softly. She was amazed by how kind and gentle he was. He was over here taking the blame for her over reaction.

He returned her kiss then pulled away. "I really am sorry, Katara," he apoligized.

"It's not your fault. Speaking of your mother, shouldn't we be getting back to her?" She asked.

"No, sh had to leave... She'll be back later, though." Zuko replied.

"Where did she go?' Katara asked.

"I... I don't know, she didn't say..." Zuko answered honestly. "You look tired..."

She had to admit, all the crying did make her burning eyes droop. She was tired.

A while later, Zuko and Katara were lying on the bed, Katara asleep in his arms. He looked at her sweet, delicate face. He wondered what her mother looked like. He wished he would be able to meet her. He wanted to know if Katara looked like her, if she acted like her or both. He wanted to meet the woman that gave birth to the love of his life.

While Zuko was holding her in his arms wondering about her mother, Katara was dreaming.

In her dream, Katara was walking in that fire nation village. It was dark but the moon shined brightly. Everyone was peacefully sleeping in the little village as Katara made her way to the part of the river she had been washing her face off at when she met The Painted Lady. She crouched down and dipped her hands in the water, closing her eyes and bringing the water to her face. She looked back at the water and saw a white mist surrounding The Painted Lady. She looked exactly as she had the last time Katara saw her, except this time there was a worried look on her face.

"Katara," the soft voice echoed all around Katara as she spoke. She heard an aching sound of longing or pain in her voice. "You must return here immediately, I need to speak with you."

"Why can't you speak with me here?" Katara asked. She was aware it was a dream in her dream, but she didn't understand why The Painted Lady couldn't say what she had to say in the dream.

"Hurry," The Painted Lady whispered, "I haven't much more time to linger in your world."

And with that, Katara's dream ended and her eyes popped open.


	16. Chapter 16: The Meeting

_**Ahhh another chapter woooo! Lol thanks again everyone 3**_

Ch. 16

Zuko was sitting on the throne where all Fire Lords had sat before him. It was exactly the same except the room was lighter and the air felt less… well, evil. It's as if he just being there instead of Ozai made the room a lighter place. Katara walked into the room and smiled at Zuko, who returned her smile with a large, happy one. Katara walked until she was about twenty feet from him, the appropriate distance, and knelt down on one knee, bowing her head.

"Fire Lord Zuko," she greeted him in her most sophisticated voice she could manage.

Zuko laughed and motioned for her to sit on the throne that was used for Fire Lady's to sit beside the Fire Lord. "Come join me, Princess Katara," he said with a smirk.

Katara rolled her eyes and walked over to him, giggling. He made an opening in the fire that surrounded him to let her through. She sat beside him and tried not to laugh. She knew it was a very prestigious and honorable thing to be sitting where she was sitting, but she couldn't help but find it funny that she, the girl coming from the peasant village in the South Pole, was sitting on the throne of the Fire Lady's. Well, technically, it was her throne, but she still found it a little funny.

"So," Katara began, "we just sit here? I mean, there's nothing wrong with that. I just mean, is that all you do all day?" Katara asked, trying not to sound stupid.

Zuko chuckled. "No, we're actually here for a reason. We're going to have a meeting with some advisors, and we thought it would be best to meet here instead of our usual meeting place."

"Why?" Katara asked. She wondered if it was because of her. Did they not want her in there?

Zuko sighed and looked at Katara. "Because last time I was in that room, my father announced that he was going to destroy the Earth Kingdom and… other things. I don't want to go in there again yet," he admitted.

Katara looked down then back at Zuko. "Who are we meeting with?"

Zuko frowned a little, "We're meeting with my top advisors and the council to discuss some things, and my mother will be joining us, also. I've decided to place her on the council so that she'll have something to do. She's going to explain some things, and we're going to discuss what to do with Azula and things abou t the Nation."

Katara had a feeling he wasn't telling her something, but she decided not to push. She knew she would find out during the meeting. She decided to bring up another matter while they were alone. "Zuko, remember that little village I've told you about? The little Fire Nation village that I dressed as The Painted Lady and healed all those sick people?" Katara asked.

Zuko turned his head to her curiously. "Yes, why?"

Katara looked down and said quietly, "I want to go back. Just for a day to make sure they're okay."

Zuko wondered why she would want to go back. "Katara, I'm sure they're doing fine. There's no need to go back now. Besides, if they aren't doing fine, you can't just keep fixing their little village. They should know how to do it on their own; you can't make it perfect, they can."

Katara sighed, not knowing how to explain it. She figured she shouldn't say, 'Well, actually, I want to go back because I met the real Painted Lady and I had a dream that she wants me to return, so… yeah, I need to go back.' Instead, she closed her eyes and said, "I can ask Sokka to go with me when he gets back."

Zuko sighed, knowing she was set on going. He figured he had a few days to talk her out of it, and there was a good chance Sokka wouldn't want to take her. "Speaking of Sokka… when are you going to tell him about us? And when are you going to tell your father?" Zuko asked.

Katara sighed. She knew Sokka would be really mad. She wasn't sure how Hakoda would react, but Sokka was sure to throw a temper tantrum. That was why she had decided to hold off on telling them until they returned. "When they get back," she said. "Sokka's going to be really angry."

"At me," Zuko said quietly. He frowned, knowing the friendship he had built with Sokka was now going to be crushed, but it was all worth it if it meant being with Katara.

"At both of us," Katara said.

Katara had wanted to put off telling Sokka and Hakoda longer, but she knew Sokka would be expecting her to return with them immediately to the South Pole. She wondered if he maybe even suspected anything about her and Zuko. She had thought so from their conversation about taking Toph back to Ba Sing Se.

"Katara, we're going to return Toph with her parents in Ba Sing Se in just a few hours, why aren't you packed?" Sokka asked her.

"I'm not going. I told Zuko I would stay here just in case anything happens," Katara responded.

Sokka narrowed his eyes and said, "I think he'll be fine, Katara. We need to leave."

"Would you want me left all alone in a Nation that I had been banished from to take control of and lead it, not knowing whether my people hated me or not?" Katara shot at him.

Sokka frowned. "I guess not. I just don't want us separated again. Aang and Toph are going to stay in Ba Sing Se and Suki's returning to Kyoshi Island to be with the Kyoshi warriors. I guess I just don't want us separated. It seems like everyone's separating, though. It's so weird," Sokka admitted.

"I know, Sokka. But trust me, I'll be right here," she said trying to comfort her brother. She hugged him tightly.

She remembered watching them fly off on Appa. Sokka and Hakoda would be taking a boat back to the Fire Nation, leaving Aang, Appa, and Toph.

"Do you think he's gonna hate me?" Zuko asked, snapping her out of it.

Katara turned to him and shook her head. "No, he's just going to be really mad for a while," she answered.

Zuko didn't get the chance to say anything before the council and his mother entered the room. Each of them bowed, getting in the correct order. Zuko's mother, Ursa, knew exactly where to go as she had seen the council organize their seating arrangements many times. They each bowed down, on one knee as Katara had done jokingly earlier.

"Fire Lord Zuko," the leader of the council said.

He was an older man who appeared to be around sixty. He had dark grey hair and golden eyes. His face was defined with a few wrinkles, but not many. He spoke with a deep, wise voice. Zuko nodded as a greeting to them, shooting a warm smile at his mother.

"We have many things to discuss today," Zuko announced.

Katara looked at Ursa and smiled a little. Ursa returned the smile as she had to Zuko. Katara had to admit the woman was very beautiful with her long, thick black hair and golden eyes that matched Zuko's. She had to admit that he looked quite a bit like her mother, although Azula resembled her more. She wondered what Ursa thought of her. She was, in fact, sitting in the very spot that used to be designated to Ursa, who had been banished. Katara turned her head to look at Zuko who looked very official sitting in his throne. She had to admit that he looked very… sexy with the orange fire setting a shadow across his face, with the lights of the room dimmed and all. She felt her cheeks blush for thinking that at such an inappropriate time. She turned her head back and faced the council once again.

"What is the first thing you wish to discuss, Fire Lord Zuko?" the head of the council asked.

Zuko looked at his mother. "I would like to know, if you wish to tell us, what happened to you?" Zuko asked. He was dying to know where she had been.

Ursa looked at her son and nodded once. "It's quite a long story," she admitted.

Zuko looked at Katara, who wasn't sure if she was supposed to respond. He then looked at each of the council members and said, "I would like to hear it. Though, if any of you wish to not hear it, we can discuss it at a later time."

The council chatted for a few moments on if anyone cared, and they truly decided that it could be crucial information on what Fire Lord Ozai had done to all of those he had banished and, frankly, they just wanted to know what happened.

"We would like to hear," the leader said.

Ursa nodded and said, "Well, as you all probably know, I made a plan to murder Azulon. I did this because Ozai had asked for his father's permission to be next in line for to be Fire Lord because Iroh was in bad shape over losing his son. Azulon was angry and, in a fit of rage, ordered Ozai to… well, he wanted him to kill…" she closed her eyes, not able to continue, but they all knew the rest.

"Anyways, I heard of this and made a plan to kill Azulon. I waited until he was sleeping and I did it quickly. That same night I was banished to Ba Sing Se, having to leave my two children, my whole life, behind. There, in Ba Sing Se, I stayed very hidden, waiting for the war to end. Although I was hidden, I managed to make a living there. I struggled, but I knew I had to go on because I had complete faith that Zuko would become Fire Lord one day. Every night I cried, my heart aching so badly because I missed you, Zuko. I felt so terrible, leaving you, and I feel it is my fault so much has happened. Especially with Azula…" Ursa quietly admitted.

"Nothing is your fault," Zuko defended his mother.

"It's no matter now, Zuko. There are other things we here need to discuss," Ursa said.

Zuko frowned but knew his mother was right.

Katara was watching Ursa with a strange feeling. After Ursa had begun talking and Katara got a good look at her, she began to wonder about her. Something about Ursa seemed strange to Katara, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Her voice sounded so familiar to her. Katara knew she had heard it before.

"Fire Lord Zuko, what do you wish to be done with Azula? Would you like to hear the update on her?" The leader asked.

"Yes," Zuko responded.

"Dr. Shirozen has done many tests on Azula, confirming that she has strong anger issues and there seems to be something else wrong with her. The doctor believes she is mentally unstable due to many years of her father's controlling lifestyle and from trying to be perfect. They think that is what caused her to be so manipulative, so controlling. They are looking into treatments for her, but the doctor does think she is doing remarkably better without her father," he said.

Zuko thought of his sister and felt sadness rise in him. He remembered when Azula and he were just young children. He remembered on nights that she was scared Azula would get out of bed and make her way down the hall to his room and beg him to let her sleep with him that night. He remembered saying yes only because she seemed so frightened and it made him want to protect her. He remembered when he was just learning how to bend and promised she would be as good as he was one day. Then he remembered when she began to snap. She was aching for attention from her parents and sought out ways to get that attention.

He remembered when she started bending and they would practice together for hours and hours until their mother called them in for dinner. They would sometimes play games like fire ball or fire dodge, or sometimes they would battle each other and usually Azula won. He remembered all the times he actually had fun with Azula until she really lost it.

"Okay," was all Zuko could choke out.

"Also… the doctor thinks Azula would benefit greatly from seeing and making peace with her mother," he said, looking at Ursa.

Ursa's eyes went wide. She desperately wished that she and Azula could get along, but she knew it was impossible. She remembered seeing the signs of Azula being… well, Azula at an early age. She knew from then on that as long as Ozai was in Azula's life, she would lose her sweet, innocent daughter. And she had been right.

"I… I don't know if that would help," Ursa admitted. "Zuko, what do you think?"

Zuko frowned a little. He remembered how much Azula had lost it that day he and Katara beat her. He decided to ask Katara. "Katara," he said, looking at her, "you remember how Azula acted that last day. She completely lost it."

"It was like she was a time bomb, and she completely exploded right then," Katara confirmed. Katara kept glancing at Ursa, still suspicious of where she had seen her before. She had, in fact, been in Ba Sing Se. Maybe she ran into her there, although she highly doubted it.

Zuko frowned, not sure of what to say. "I think we should take some time to deliberate that one. Are there any other things to discuss?" Zuko asked.

The council leader thought it over. "Ah, yes, one last thing. When do you plan on announcing your engagement?" he asked the two of them.

Zuko looked at Katara. They hadn't really discussed that one. "I think we're going to wait and see how the Nation reacts for a while," Zuko responded.

"Very well," the leader said. "But do please know that people _will _be expecting you to wed with somebody very soon. They may grow suspicious if you do not make any actions within the next few months."

Zuko frowned. "They should know I am very busy building up this Nation," he said. That was very true, also. Katara wondered if he wanted to put the wedding off because of that. She wouldn't mind, it's not like she didn't have him with her.

The leader nodded once, but there was a strange look in his eyes. "That is all there is to speak of today, Fire Lord Zuko."

"You are dismissed," Zuko said. The council bowed and each of them got up and walked out.

Zuko's mother was the last one, but he called her back. She turned and said, "I'm sorry, son, but I must be going. I promise I will come visit later, my love."

Zuko frowned and wondered to himself why his mother had to leave. Where had she to go? Katara was wondering the same thing, but she didn't ask about it. Instead, she asked about something else.

"Zuko, have you ever seen a spirit?" Katara asked, the question popping out of her before she even thought about it.


	17. Chapter 17

_**Hey everyone! I'm going to be going on vacation for Christmas, so I don't know if I'll post for the next 10 or so days, but I'll definitely try my best to get at least two more chapters up! Thank you all once again! :)**_

_**-Delilah**_

Ch.17

"What do you mean? Like, a spirit from the spirit world?" Zuko asked.

"Yeah," Katara answered.

"No… why, have you?" Zuko questioned.

Katara frowned. She wondered if she should tell him about seeing The Painted Lady. "Yeah, I was with Sokka and Aang. I've told you before, I think."

"Oh, yeah," Zuko responded, a little suspicious. He decided not to question her any further now, though. "Want to go take a walk with me?" he asked.

Katara decided she could use this time to bring up the subject of visiting that old Fire Nation village. "Sure," she responded happily.

They got up and walked outside, hand in hand. They walked silently until they made it to the little pond Zuko and his mother used to sit and feed turtle ducks at. Katara turned and faced him. She let go of his hand and bit her lip.

"Zuko, I need to go back to that village," Katara stated.

Zuko looked over her face. "Why? Katara, you keep telling me you want to go back, but you're not telling me _why,_" Zuko responded.

Katara looked down, dropping her head a little. She knew she owed him an explanation. "Well… when I was there, I met this woman. I helped her out and she sought me out to thank me. And she wants me to return. I don't know why, but she needs me. I have to go back, Zuko. If there's one thing I realized back in that little village, it's that I _won't _turn my back on people who need me. I don't know what she needs, but I have to go," Katara admitted.

Zuko wondered if that was all. But then again, it seemed like something Katara would do. She was so selfless and kind, of course she'd want to do all that she could to help people. And Zuko knew he was the only thing standing in her way. How could he deny her to help people? He sighed and stroked her cheek. He knew it was still dangerous to venture out to another place, but he had a strange feeling that he should take her. He guessed that it was probably because of how much he wanted to make her happy.

"Okay, we'll go next week," Zuko agreed.

Katara smiled hugely and hugged him tightly, wrapping her arms around his neck. He returned her hug happily and wrapped his strong, muscular arms around her waist. She nuzzled her face into his warm neck, breathing in his scent. She couldn't believe how perfect everything was now. She had the love of her life, the war was over… everything seemed to be falling right into place. All except the big empty hole in her heart from her mother's death.

Katara pulled away from the hug but grabbed his hand. She looked at Zuko and realized how different he looked in the Fire Lord uniform. She remembered his old regular Fire Nation clothes whenever he just joined the group. She remembered how he wore his hair down, letting it fall and scatter across his face. She liked his new, official looking look, but she loved the way he used to look. She realized that was because that was how he looked when she fell in love with him. She looked down at her dress and realized she looks different herself. She wore her usual hair loopies, but other than that she had on a whole different outfit. She was dressed all in red instead of her usual blue water tribe clothing.

But looks weren't the only things that had changed. She realized that just a few weeks ago she thought she was going to end up with Aang, but now here she was engaged to Zuko, the new Fire Lord. She smiled to herself and looked down.

"Katara, I have a question…" Zuko said.

"What is it?" Katara asked.

Zuko bit his lip and said, "Well… I was just wondering if… if you ever want kids? I mean, it's kind of something that has to happen since there has to be a next Fire Lord. I just, you know, wanted to know how you felt about that. Having kids, I mean." He sounded nervous.

Katara looked up at him. Kids? She had never thought about them. She was only fifteen. "I like kids," she said. "I wouldn't mind having a few. Maybe ten or eleven," she joked with a smirk.

Zuko looked at her. "What? Ten or eleven kids? You're joking, right?" he asked.

Katara laughed and kissed him. "Of course I'm joking," she said. "But I wouldn't want to have a lot of kids. I really only want one…"

"Why? I mean, is there a reason?" Zuko asked.

"Well… yeah, I mean, there would be so much competition between them. Because obviously the first born would be next in line to be Fire Lord, and that's bound to cause problems. What kid wouldn't be jealous? You know how Azula is…" Katara trailed off.

Zuko frowned and sighed. He knew she was right. He just didn't want to get in the way of her happiness. If she wanted more kids, that is. He knew they had to have at least one. If not, who would rule the Fire Nation when they were gone? Zuko wondered if Katara even wanted children. He wouldn't want her to feel obligated, but that's part of being the rulers of the Fire Nation. He decided not to worry about it. They were both still very young and had about five years until that problem reoccurred. Well, he hoped so, at least.

Katara changed the subject. "So… what are you gonna do about Azula? The doctor thinks your mom should visit her. Do you think that's a good idea?" Katara asked.

Zuko sighed again. "I don't know. Maybe that's part of why she was so messed up. She was so desperate for attention. Maybe my mother should go visit her. It's not like Azula could hurt her physically…" Zuko answered.

Katara had to admit, she felt a little bad for Azula, but not enough for her to try and help her. The psychopath had tried to kill them. She could never feel that bad for her. Katara agreed with him.

"I think it might help," she agreed.

Zuko looked at the Water Tribe girl. "Katara, since we're going to be leaving anyways, there's somewhere I need to go, also."

"Where do you need to go?" Katara asked, but she had a feeling she already knew.

"I need to see my Uncle," Zuko said.

Katara smiled, knowing it would be really good for Zuko to see Iroh.

The next day, Sokka and Hakoda showed up at the crack of dawn. A guard knocked on Katara and Zuko's door. Katara groggily opened it.

"Princess Katara, your brother and father are here," the guard announced.

"Sokka! Dad!" Katara exclaimed happily. Zuko woke up and watched her cheerfully follow the guard. He got up and followed them, figuring it was Sokka and Hakoda.

Sokka and his father were sitting in the living room, drowsy. Katara ran up to them and tackled them into a big group hug. She was no longer tired, she only felt happiness. But then she realized something… she would have to tell them about her and Zuko. She looked at them, knowing they would be angry and that they were going to return to the water tribe… without her.

"Hey, Katara," Sokka said, glad to see his little sister.

"How was your trip?" she asked them, pulling away and sitting between them.

Zuko stood in the doorway and waved at them.

"Hey, Zuko," Sokka said, waving back.

"It was nice. All of Ba Sing Se is lit up. People are celebrating the victory," Hakoda answered.

"That's great," Katara said with a smile. "Did Toph's parents say anything?"

"They were mad, but mostly they were proud of her. They really underestimated her," Sokka replied.

Zuko watched Katara chat happily with Sokka and Hakoda. He felt a pang of guilt as he realized he was the reason she would have to part from them. He immediately hated himself for separating her family when he realized that. But the scarier part was, he thought that maybe one day she would realize it, too, and hate him once again.


	18. Chapter 18

Ch.18

Katara and Hakoda were sitting on the couch. Katara contemplated how to tell her father. She had decided to tell him first because she figured he would be the one that was calmer about it. She took a deep breath and decided to begin the conversation.

"Dad, there's something I need to tell you…" she began.

"What is it, Katara?" he asked.

She looked at Hakoda and reluctantly said, "Over the past few weeks, I've come to realize something… there's someone that I really like. I mean, I really r_eally _like him."

Hakoda knew who she was talking about, and she only confirmed what he already knew. He had to admit, it did make him a little angry. He was sad to see his little girl growing up. He was also angry that now, once they finally got reunited after years of being apart, they were only going to be separated again. Then he remembered something. "Katara… you're too young," he stated.

Katara frowned. A lot of girls were married by the time they were sixteen. "Not really," she argued. "Mom was married to you when she was fourteen."

Hakoda frowned. "I just think it would be better if you came home until you turn sixteen in a few months. I know Gran-Gran really wants to see you. It would only be for a little while…" he said.

Katara looked down. She did miss her Gran-Gran, and she really would like to go back to the water tribe for a while. But she didn't want to leave Zuko. "I'll think about it," she said. "There's somewhere I need to go next week, give me until I get back to decide, okay?"

Hakoda nodded and smiled at her.

Sokka wasn't as easy to tell. "You're _what?_" he yelled.

"Sokka, calm down!" Katara insisted.

"No," he yelled. "You're engaged! To… to Zuko! What happened? You hated him just a few weeks ago, now you're engaged? Was it all fake? Did you ever hate him that much?"

"Sokka! Things change!" Was all she said.

"Things change," he muttered. "Yeah, I'll really _change _his face."

"Sokka," she tried to reason, "can't you try to be happy for me?"

He crossed his arms stubbornly. "Are you coming home first?" he asked.

She sighed. "Maybe. I don't know yet," she admitted.

"Katara… you have to come back," he said, his eyes pleading.

She felt guilt twist in her stomach. What was she going to do?

"We'll see," she tried not to make any promises.

The next week, Sokka walked into the room right before Zuko and Katara were about to leave. "I'm ready to go," he announced.

"Uh, Sokka, you aren't going with us…" Katara said.

"You think I'm going to let you two go away for a week a_lone?_" Sokka scoffed. "Come on, let's hit the road."

"Sokka, we're already taking Zuko's mother, also, I don't think…" Sokka cut her off.

"I'm going," he demanded.

Ursa walked in and smiled. "I'm ready," she said.

They decided to take a large Fire Nation boat. Their trips consisted of going first to the small village- Katara had argued her way into going there first- then to Ba Sing Se to visit Iroh, Toph, and Aang… if he was still there. Katara had felt guilty from leaving everything between them like it was. She felt that things could be better, if they were able to become friends.

It was sometime around midnight and Katara realized she wasn't tired. She decided to get up and explore the ship, although she knew she had to be careful because of the guards roaming around. She quietly opened the door and slipped into the dark hallway. She saw a light that looked like a flam and figured it was probably a guard. She knew there was a door down that way, but she also knew there was one towards the other side of the hall. Katara turned and walked away from the light, knowing she couldn't slip past the guard.

She reached the end of the hall and quietly opened the door, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw the steps. She realized those steps would take her to the front deck and quickly but quietly made her way up them.

No one was on the deck, which was a relief. She made her way to the edge and watched the water slap against the boat harshly. The wind was blowing quite a bit and it felt cool against Katara's tan skin. She looked up at the bright full moon and memories rushed back to her. She didn't know why; it seemed forced, almost, although she wasn't forcing anything. She remembered being at the North Pole and meeting Princess Yue. She wondered if the girl who was now the moon spirit was watching her right now.

Katara wondered if Sokka still had feelings for Princess Yue. Katara hadn't known her too well, but she remembered the beautiful girl very distinctly. She knew Yue was a brave, good person whenever she gave her life to be the moon spirit. Katara understood why Sokka had loved her.

Katara's attention was brought back to earth when she heard footsteps behind her. She quickly turned and saw Ursa walking over towards her. "Katara," Ursa said with a smile, "it's late; what are you doing out here?"

Katara smiled back at her. She had grown fond of Ursa over the past week because she reminded her so much of her own mother. "I couldn't sleep," she replied.

"Me either. But maybe it's a good thing… I've been needing to ask you something," Ursa admitted.

"What is it?" Katara asked.

Ursa looked down. "Is there such a thing as… blood bending?"

**_-So usually I put these as the beginning of the chapters only, but I have a question for everyone! Do you think it's possible for the Avatar to have kids that can bend any element? Or do you think they could only bend the element the Avatar was born with? I'm just curious as to what you all think! :) Also, I'm sorry for not updating, I was sick up until Christmas and I was visiting family, plus anytime I started to write for the past few days my mind was blank! But here it is *FINALLY* lol :) but I do feel really bad since its been like 15 days, so I'll try and post more ASAPPPP :D_**


	19. Chapter 19

Katara stared at Ursa with wide eyes. No one should know about that. Only her friends... and Hama. But she knew that Hama wouldn't tell anyone. She was too much of a selfish person to risk her life like that. Katara felt a wave of worry wash through her as she remembered Hama. She had been having nightmares lately, all including Hama. Katara closed her eyes and remembered the one she had had just the night before.

_In the dream Katara was sitting on a bench in the fire nation town where she met Hama. She sat quietly and watched a few people walk past her as the sun went down. She looked around, searching for some unknown person, but found nothing. Oddly, she felt like she was being watched. She stood up, about to begin making her way back to her friends, then was immediately forced to turn around. She knew then and there who it was and what was happening. She saw someone in her peripheral vision and tried to turn her head but failed._

_"Katara," she heard the old woman say with a cackle that sent chills up Katara's arms._

_"L-let me go," Katara whimpered._

_Hama then blood bended her so that she was forced to twist. When she twisted to turn around, though, everything around her was a blur and it faded to black whenever she faced forwards. She felt herself be released from Hama's blood bending and realized it was pitch black. She couldn't see anything, but she heard the terrifying cackle that Hama let out. Katara ran away but found this black nothingness to be endless and soon grew tired. Sweat was building up on her forehead and she was panting. She had ran so far yet there seemed to be no end._

_"You can't run from this, Katara. You need to tell them what you can do!" She heard Hama shout._

_Katara clenched her fists and looked around, searching for some kind of light. "Tell them, Katara," Hama repeated. "You need to tell them," she heard. All of a sudden, dozens of voices, all of which sounded just like Hama, began swarming her and repeating what Hama had said. Katara covered her ears with her hands but it didn't help. The voices got louder and louder until Katara couldn't take it anymore. She let out a high pitched, terrified scream. The last thing she heard was Hama's voice fading out, "You can't run from this," it said with an echo._

_When Katara opened her eyes she was under water. She desperately needed air and she began swimming to the surface as fast as she could. She reached the surface just when she thought she was going to pass out and gasped for air. She looked around and realized where she was. In that tiny fire nation village, once again. The lake was surrounded by heavy fog that was getting thicker by the minute. Something about this scene gave Katara the chills. She had a very bad feeling. She swam to the edge of the lake and grabbed hold of the little pier. She pulled herself up, but just as her feet made it out of the water she felt someone reach up and grab her ankle. Katara screamed and panicked, but when she looked back she saw The Painted Lady was the person grabbing her._

_"Hurry," the spirit whispered before turning into a white mist. _

_Katara pulled herself all the way up and sat there for a few seconds before everything went black again. "Katara," she heard Hama say in an eerie sing-song voice. _

_"No," Katara whispered._

_"Come on, Katara, it's time," Hama said._

_"No!" Katara shouted. _

_Her eyes flew open and she saw Zuko standing there, confused. "Sorry... bad dream," was all she said._

"It's not something I ever want to do," Katara whispered. "Blood bending is... it's terrifying."

Ursa watched Katara intently, waiting for her to go on.

"When I was helping Aang, we were hiding in the fire nation for a short while. We happened to be found by an innkeeper, named Hama. She took us in and after a few days we learned that she was a water bender from the south pole, just like me. She began teaching me all she knew."

Katara trailed off and turned her head, staring at the calm water. It was eerily calm for how windy it was.

"But this town was supposedly haunted by an evil spirit who would force people to go under a mountain and keep them as prisoners on full moons. One night, on a full moon, Hama convinced me to go to the woods with her. She told me that two master water benders should have nothing to worry about."

She looked at the moon that was half-way full. "Hama began telling me about how when she was taken as a prisoner from the south pole. She'd noticed that there were rats in the cell. They had kept her from any water, but she quickly realized that where there was life, there's water. She used this to her advantage and taught herself how to control the blood flow in the rats bodies. After she'd gotten a hold of the rats, she escaped by doing the same thing to the guard.

"I quickly put two and two together and accused her of forcing people to be held captive in the cave. She used the excuse that they deserved it, but I didn't agree. My friends then got there and had found out it was her. Hama quickly blood bended Aang and my brother and made them begin fighting. They were about to kill each other when I gave in. I knew Hama was forcing me to learn how to blood bend and I didn't want that power over people, but I had to save them. So I did," Katara began to cry silently.

"I'm sorry," Ursa said, trying to comfort the girl. She felt really bad for Katara, but couldn't help but be more curious about blood bending. She wanted to see it, know just what exactly it was and how it worked. No, she didn't want to, she _needed _to.

"It's okay," Katara said, wiping the tears. "I just can't believe people know about it. I never wanted this to happen..."

Ursa felt a little bad about asking but knew that she had needed to know. "Katara, everything is going to be fine, I promise you that."

Her voice was sure and strong, Katara got the feeling that Ursa knew something... something she didn't know, but she didn't question it.

Katara shook it off and shot Ursa a half smile. "I'm gonna get some sleep," she said awkwardly. She had a strange feeling now.

"Good night," Ursa responded gently, but she only turned around and stared at the water instead of heading back to her room.

Katara made her way to the room and collapsed on the bed, finally feeling tired. She closed her eyes and fell asleep, still feeling like something was strange about that whole conversation.


	20. Chapter 20

Ch.20

Katara sat up in bed, tired. She had just woken up from another nightmare. This one was different, though. Hama wasn't there at all.

_Katara was walking through a familiar swamp. She realized it was the one she and her friends had been at a while back. This was where she had seen her mother. She made her was down a path of moss covered trees and saw a huge, muddy lake. She knew for some reason she couldn't turn back, so she shakily took a step towards the lake. One after another, she slowly took small steps. _

_Once she reached the water, stuck one leg in and felt the warm water surround it. She moved hastily, wanting to get out of the water quickly. She was halfway through the muddy lake when all of a sudden the ground beneath her gave in and sucked her down into a dark hole._

_She fought against it by kicking towards the surface as hard and fast as she could. She didn't have much air left for the fact that she had been taken by surprise and didn't take a deep breath before being sucked underwater. It took her about three minutes of swimming and bending the water around her to get herself to the top. When she was at the surface, she gasped for air, her lungs aching. After catching her breath, she looked around and realized she wasn't at the swamp._

_Once again, she was in that lake in the little Fire Nation village, but instead of being by the pier where she usually was, she was by the pier in town. She pulled herself up and used water bending to get all the water out of her hair and clothes. She took a few shaky steps, exhausted from almost drowning. She took another step and stumbled, so she decided to stop and sit for a few minutes. It wasn't like she actually had anything to do._

_She sat against an old building and closed her eyes. When she opened them a few minutes later, the sun was already rising. She looked at the lake and was surprised to see a small boat making its way towards the town. Not knowing who it was, Katara quickly his behind the building. She wasn't up to a fight, so she was going to stay hidden if she could._

_The water bender watched the boat and it neared the pier. She couldn't tell if it was a man or woman in the boat; they had a dark red robe of with a hood covering their face and a piece of cloth tied to cover their mouth. Katara sighed and knew they meant trouble. She was prepared to fight if she had to._

_The person stood at the edge of the pier, staring into the water. They had a small pink flower in their hand, and the held it towards the water. The person quickly looked over their shoulder at the building Katara was hiding behind. Katara felt her heart race and she hoped the person did not see her. To her relief, they turned around and dropped the flower into the water. Katara watched in amazement and fog began to rise and she realized what had happened._

_The Painted Lady rose out of the water and the person before her bowed. "I see you've found me," The Painted Lady replied in her soft, musical tone._

_The person nodded once. The Painted Lady smiled sadly. "It's amazing how you remember me so well from your childhood years. You've even remembered how to summon me. Most people have forgotten."_

_"I could never forget," the person said. The voice was a hoarse one. It sounded as if they were on the edge of tears. Katara noticed that it was a woman's voice. "I know that you're growing ill and I know why."_

_The Painted Lady's eyes widened as she looked at the woman. The spirit said nothing, but the woman did. "I want to help you. I know I can," she said._

_"No, you can't. I couldn't ask that of anyone. Especially you… you have so much ahead of you now. I can't possibly take that away from you," the spirit whispered._

_The woman shook her head. "I know you remember what happened when I was a child. I was dying, and you healed me. I know you used a lot of your powers to heal me. I don't pretend to not know that's why you're growing so ill. You gave me part of your life and now it's catching up to you. So I have a deal for you now," she announced._

_"No, I won't agree to it," The Painted Lady replied._

_"I know you want to be human," the woman said, ignoring the spirit. "So I have a compromise. In exchange for saving my life, I will take your place as The Painted Lady and you will be free to live as a human."_

_The Painted Lady shook her head but there was a flash of something in her eyes. Katara recognized the look; The Painted Lady desperately wanted to take up the offer._

_"You don't want to be a spirit," said The Painted Lady._

_"I want to save you. I want to keep this village safe. You're dying, and I'm the only one who can take your place. Please, I know you don't want to take my life, but if someone doesn't help this village, all of them will die! I need to help them," the woman begged._

_The Painted Lady looked at the small town and sighed. She knew the woman was right. This village was so contaminated and so many were ill; someone had to help them. And she knew she wouldn't be around for much longer. _

_"Take my hand," the spirit whispered._

_The woman followed her orders and grabbed the spirit's hand. Katara watched with wide eyes as a huge gust of wind exploded all around them. They stayed in place, but the water shuffled violently and the pier shook from the rapid impact. She watched as the woman faded away. The Painted Lady opened her eyes. Katara realized that they were the same color as the woman's had been. An intense golden amber color had taken place of the deep red eyes that had once been there._

_A few seconds later, another woman faded into sight. This woman had long, brown hair and eyes a shade of dark red. Katara knew who this woman was. She was dressed in a simple white dress. There were those same small pink flowers pinned into her hair. They were the same as the one the woman had dropped into the water._

_Before anyone could say anything, the new spirit lunged into the water, disappearing._

Sokka knocked on Katara's door. She was sitting on her bed again, but this time she was wearing her blue water tribe uniform. She had been really homesick lately and missed her Gran-Gran, and the rest of her tribe.

"Come in," Katara said.

"Hey, we're gonna be at the village in about five minutes," he said.

Katara smiled and looked out her window. She could see land.

"Why do you wanna go back so bad?" Sokka asked. "It seems like it's more than just to check on the people…"

Sokka had always been close to his sister and usually knew when she was not telling the whole truth. He knew he was right, because Katara sighed and looked at her hands.

"To be honest, I just really feel like I need to go back. It's like the village is calling to me, like they need me," she admitted. That was all she dared to tell him. She didn't want to tell him about the dreams, or the nightmares, really.

"That's… weird," Sokka said. "But, hey, as long as we don't end up in some creepy swamp again, that's all cool with me."

Katara's lips twitched a little as if she were going to smile when she remembered the trip to the swamp. Aang had said he felt like the swamp was calling him to land there. She almost smiled, but then the memories of her dream came back and her smile faded.

"Yeah, I'd rather not have that experience again," she said a little shakily.

Sokka frowned, knowing something was up with her but decided to leave it alone for now.

A few minutes later the ship docked. Katara was on her way to go up deck. She climbed up the stairs quickly and smiled when she saw the village. She turned around and saw Zuko and Ursa talking with one another. When Zuko saw her, he motioned for the water bender to join him.

"So this is the village you wanted to come and visit so badly?" he asked, a little disappointed. It was obvious that he thought it wasn't all that great.

Ursa shot him a look. "Now, Zuko, this is a very nice village. The people here are very friendly," she said with a smile.

"You've been here before?" Katara asked.

Ursa smiled at her. "Of course I have," was all she said.

Katara looked back at the village and smiled again. "Come on, let's go," she said, taking Zuko's hand.


	21. Chapter 21

Ch.21

**_Hey everyone, so I finally made up my mind about how this story is gonna end in the next couple of chapters. I'm trying to make it to thirty so there will definitely be more! And please r&r! :)_**

They made their way to the Fire Nation village. Katara walked up to the stand where Xu sold fish. He smiled when he recognized the water bender.

"Hey, I remember you! You're the girl who saved the village!" Xu exclaimed.

Zuko looked at Katara curiously. He had known that she'd helped the village, but he didn't realize just how much.

"I wanted to come back to see how everyone is doing," Katara replied.

Xu's smile faded and he sighed. "I wish I could tell you what you want to hear, but I can't. Everyone is getting sick again, and we don't know why!"

Katara frowned, and she knew this was part of the reason she had needed to come back. "How many people are sick? Is the river still clean?" she asked.

"Over half the people in town are sick! And we haven't contaminated the river, but strange things have been going on lately," he admitted.

Ursa listened intently, now interested in what the man was saying.

"What do you mean?" Zuko asked, also now interested.

"Well every night at midnight, there's a strange howling sound coming from the river. It sounds like someone is really hurt out there, but no matter how many people search for the source of the sound, no one finds anything. It's almost like whoever it is just… disappears," he said.

"Oh no," Katara whispered.

She turned to Zuko with a pleading look in her eyes. "Zuko, please, we have to stay for one night," she begged.

"Katara, we're on a tight schedule…" he tried to reason with her.

"Please, it's only one night," Katara asked again.

"Zuko," Ursa said, putting her hand on his arm gently, "surely we can spare one night."

Zuko sighed and grudgingly agreed. Katara smiled and grabbed her water pouch. "I'm going to go visit the infirmary. I need to heal as many people that I can manage," she said.

With that, she headed to the small building and stepped inside. She let out a large gasp when she saw how many people were in the room. There were so many of them; she noted that this wasn't helping them get better. She would have to talk to Zuko about upgrading these buildings. The spread of illness was not helping them.

Everyone was asleep, except for one little boy who rolled over and gasped when he saw Katara. "It's the water bender," he whispered. Katara immediately recognized the little boy who she had once given food to.

Katara made her way over to him and knelt down. "How do you feel?" she asked gently.

The little boy coughed up some blood and grabbed his stomach. "M-my stomach hurts so much, and my chest… I can't breathe hardly at all," he whimpered.

Katara opened her water pouch and lifted the small boys' shirt up to reveal his stomach. She bended the water to fit perfectly around her hands and placed them on his stomach, hoping this would help. The boy shut his eyes for a few seconds then they fluttered open once more. "Does that feel any better?" she asked.

"A little," he admitted with a smile. "How do you do that?"

Katara smiled at him. "Some water benders are able to use the water to heal. I just happened to learn how by accident when I got burned one time," she explained.

"Whoa, that's awesome," he whispered. "Are you going to heal everyone?"

Katara nodded and smiled again. The little boy nervously looked down. "I wanna see how you do it," he said.

"Then watch," she said with a grin.

Katara stood up and walked to the next person and gently woke her up. She healed a large cut and managed to bring her temperature down. The little boy watched in amazement as Katara healed one person after another. He wished he could do that.

Once Katara was finished she looked at the little boy who was now rubbing his eyes. "You need some sleep," she said. "But before I go, I want you to have this."

She walked over to him and opened her bag. The water bender pulled out two gold pieces that she had been saving from her traveling with Aang, but she no longer needed them now that the war was over. She also pulled out a few pieces of bread and handed it over to the little boy.

His eyes widened as he had never had two gold pieces all to himself, and he hardly ever got this much food. "I want you to have it," Katara said warmly.

"T-thank you," he whispered in amazement. He then looked back at the water bender and hugged her tightly. "Am I ever gonna see you again?" he asked.

Katara hugged the little boy back. "I'm sure you will," she said. "I'll come back, I promise. But I have to leave now, it's getting late."

She smiled at the little boy and made her way out. Just as she stepped out of the door, she heard him say, "Thank you, water bender."

Her smile broadened as she remembered him saying those same words, except to The Painted Lady.

Katara walked back to the ship. Once she climbed onto the ship, she made her way to Zuko's room. She figured he would be there; the sun had already gone down and it was very late. She knocked on his door and not two seconds later he said 'come in.'

She opened the door and walked inside. "You've been gone for hours," Zuko said worriedly.

"I'm sorry, there were just so many sick people," she said. She felt tears forming but pushed them back. "You should've seen it, Zuko, there had to be almost the whole town in there. And there was this little boy…" tears spilled over onto her cheeks now as she remembered the little boy coughing up blood.

She had thought of what could be wrong with figured it was probably pneumonia. What with his lack of breath and the blood that was a probable explanation, but she had no cure for it.

Zuko stood from his bed and hugged Katara tightly. "Katara, please don't cry… is there anything I can do to help?" he asked.

Katara pulled away and wiped her tears. "Actually, yes, there is. There's someone else I need to have a… talk with."

Zuko was a little surprised by her angry tone but didn't question it. He only nodded and said, "Let's go, then."

Katara and Zuko made their way to the small pier where Katara had seen The Painted Lady. They were almost there, but they stopped in their tracks when they saw someone already there. Katara gasped when she recognized the person. It was the woman from her dream. It was the one who had become The Painted Lady.

Zuko stood in front of Katara protectively and prepared to fight, but Katara motioned for him to be quiet. He sighed irritably but did as she said. They watched as all the things that had happened in Katara's dream happened right in front of them.

Everything was just like Katara had dreamed-literally- except the fact that they were at a different pier. Zuko held his breath in amazement when The Painted Lady arose from the water. They could barely make out what was being said because of how quietly they spoke, as if they knew Katara and Zuko were hiding. But Katara knew exactly what they were saying, and when The Painted Lady extended her arm and the woman took her hand, Katara once again motioned for Zuko to stay quiet. He would have, too, if not for the fact the woman's hood was blown off from the gust of wind and he saw someone he recognized.

Katara's eyes widened in horror when she realized what was happening. She grabbed Zuko's arm, but it was too late. He pulled away and ran towards them.

"Mom, no!" he shouted. But once again, it was too late. Ursa had already become The Painted Lady.

-**_Oh, I have another question! If Zuko and Katara have kids, how many do you think they would have and what would their names be? I personally think Zuko would want only one because of the competition for the throne, but I think Katara would want two because of her and Sokka! And I think the names would of course be something like Kya or Ursa for the girls, but I'm not sure about the boys!_**


	22. Chapter 22

_**Sorry it's taking me so long to update, I've just been really stuck with this story and I had no idea where to go with it, but it's getting there! :)**_

Zuko stared in horror at the spirit before him. He was speechless, as was Katara.

"You shouldn't have followed me here," Ursa, or The Painted Lady, said.

"We didn't follow you," Katara defended them. "We came to talk to The Painted Lady… the other one."

The Painted Lady closed her eyes and felt tears spill onto her cheeks. "I'm sorry you two saw that. It had to be done," she whispered.

Zuko immediately erupted, anger and sadness filling inside him. "No, it didn't! There had to be another way! This village needs to learn how to stay alive on its own!"

"Zuko," the spirit whispered, "You don't understand."

"What do you mean I don't understand? I don't need to understand, I just got you back and now… now I lost you again," he said sadly.

"I owe everyone in this village my life, especially The Painted Lady. I had to do what was right," she replied. "You see, when I was very young I grew ill. My parents didn't know what was wrong, but my temperature was dangerously high and I couldn't breathe very well. My father took me to this village because he'd heard of a special spirit who heals wounded people.

"Everyone in the village helped us. They tried special remedies, herbs, and many other things. But nothing seemed to work. The night before we left I was sleeping on my small bed. I heard someone open the door but I was to out of it from the fever to take any notice. I didn't even acknowledge the person until I felt a hand on my head. When I saw the woman I knew exactly what was happening. The Painted Lady was healing me. I was so happy until I saw the tears running down her face and how hard she was biting her lip. I knew it had taken a great deal of her power to save me.

"I watched as some color drained from her face and the painted on it got a little duller. Her red eyes were a few shades darker and her hair looked less shiny. Despite the changes, she was still breathtakingly beautiful. I remember asking her if she was hurt. 'Young child, I don't have much time.' I remember her whispering. 'When I heard of your condition I saw a glimpse of your future. I knew I had to save you when I saw all the great things you are going to do. Please, use what life I have given you to do the right thing. Always do the right thing, Ursa. There will be times when you don't know what exactly the right thing is, but you need to listen to the voice within and you will know. Please, don't forget this.' And after that, she disappeared."

Katara and Zuko stared at the woman. Neither of them could think of anything to say.

"I now realize what she meant. She had predicted that I would have to choose between killing Azulon and having him kill my own child. I didn't know what exactly was right, but I knew what I was going to do. I knew the consequences and accepted them. I did what I had to do. I listened to my voice within and now I see that what I did was the right thing. I knew that all along, deep down. I knew there would be no consequence, after I die…" Ursa trailed off.

"When will I see you again?" Zuko asked, and Katara realized he was crying.

Ursa smiled sadly. "Whenever you decide to come back, I'll be here. All you need to summon me is a pink razor blossom flower and drop it in the water. Once you do that, I'll appear."

"But razor blossom flowers and extremely hard to find," Zuko replied.

"You're the Fire Lord," Ursa said with a smile, "I'm sure you can find a way."

Ursa looked at the water bender and smiled. "Katara, I know you've been having dreams about coming here. Now that you know, I have something I want to show you."

Katara looked at the spirit, confused. "What is it?" she asked.

"When humans die, they go to the spirit world. Bad people go to a terrible place, but good people go to a very beautiful place. Because I am a spirit, I can summon people. That is, only if I have something that belonged to them," Ursa hinted.

Katara stared at her. Her hand instinctively shot up and grabbed her necklace. "My mother… I have her necklace," Katara said.

Ursa reached out towards Katara who eagerly removed her necklace. She was about to hand it over before she remembered something. "W-wait," she pulled her hand back. "I can't, not without Sokka."

Ursa smiled gently. "Zuko, would you be a dear and go fetch Sokka? That way Katara could have a few minutes to speak with her mother alone."

Zuko, still in shock, barely managed to nod before turning and running towards the boat.

Katara handed Ursa the necklace. She watched as the spirit wrapped her hand around the necklace. "What's her name?" she asked.

"Kya," Katara responded. She was so excited to see her mother again.

"I must warn you, I don't know how she will act. She might be confused, or she might not even see you. But at least you can see her," Ursa admitted.

Katara nodded once. She wanted to see her mother, no matter what.

Ursa held the necklace close and closed her eyes. Katara watched as the water around the spirit swirled into a whirlpool and a light blue mist surrounded her. The mist was very hard to see through, but once it faded Katara noticed there was someone else standing beside Ursa. The person faded from a dark shadow into a familiar person.

Katara felt tears come to her eyes as she realized this was her mother. It wasn't a hallucination like from the swamp, it was actually her. Before Katara could say anything, Kya gasped and walked towards Katara. Kya took slow, steady steps towards her daughter.

"Katara?" Kya asked in astonishment. "I-is that you?"

Katara ran towards her mother, who was now on land. "Mom!" she exclaimed and hugged her tightly.

Kya hugged her daughter back and felt her own tears begin to spill over. "It's been so long since I've seen you… you've grown so much," Kya whispered, pulling away to look at her daughter.

"I know," Katara admitted. "It's been five years…"

Kya's eyes widened as she realized Katara was right. It had been five years since that man had murdered her…

"Where's Sokka? How's Hakoda? And Gran-Gran? How are you, Katara? What all's happened in the past five years? Is the war still going?" The questions all spilled out of Kya at once.

Katara smiled a little at her mother and began answering her questions. "Sokka's on his way here and dad's on his way back to the south pole now. Gran-Gran's fine, too. I haven't seen her in a long time, but she's fine. I'm fine, too, more than fine, actually… And about the war, well, here's what happened…"

Katara proceeded to tell her mother _everything _that happened starting from Hakoda leaving to coming to this very village. Ursa waited patiently, giving Katara all the time she needed to tell her mother everything and knowing Kya would want to talk to Sokka for a while, also.

When Katara finished telling the story her mother stared at her with wide eyes for a few moments before hugging her tightly. "I'm so proud of you, Katara! I can't believe how brave all of you are!"

Katara hugged her mother and smiled. She didn't say anything because she heard quick footsteps coming up behind her. She smiled more and pulled away to look at Sokka and Zuko. Sokka stared at his mother in astonishment. He hadn't believed a word Zuko had said, but now he knew he couldn't argue with him any longer. He ran towards his mom and hugged her tightly.

"Mom… what are you doing here?" He asked happily.

Kya looked at Ursa, who explained to him the whole story. While she did that, Zuko looked from Katara to Kya, noticing just how much they looked alike. He was surprised at just how much Katara acted and looked like her mother.

"So you're a spirit?" Sokka asked Kya.

"Sort of… it's not like I have special powers, I'm just a soul waiting for the people I love to join me. After that, I'm not sure what happens. I suppose we just live in our part of the spirit world…" Kya answered.

Sokka looked at Ursa. "So… we can just come ask you any time we want to talk to her?" he asked.

Ursa frowned. "No… I can only summon people on the full moon…" she admitted.

Sokka and Katara both frowned but said nothing; they didn't want to ruin the blissful moment with their mother.

"Mom, you're starting to turn see through!" Katara said worriedly.

Kya looked down at her hands and frowned. "I guess I have a time limit…"

Sokka and Katara looked at each other and then hugged their mother. "We'll come see you again soon, I promise," Katara said.

"I love you," Kya said quietly before vanishing.

Katara felt tears fall gently down her face, but she smiled. "Thank you so much," she said to Ursa.

"Anytime, dear," Ursa responded happily.

"That was… amazing. I never thought I was gonna see her again," Sokka admitted. "But thank you," he said to Ursa.

She smiled back at Sokka then turned to Zuko. "I have to leave now, but before I go… I want you to bring Azula with you next time you come back. I need to see her," Ursa said.

Zuko nodded and hugged his mother. "I love you, mom," he whispered.

"I love you to, son," she replied.

She pulled away and smiled at all of them before plunging down into the water. Katara and Sokka looked at each other and silently hugged one another. Neither of them said it, but they both finally felt complete for the first time in a long, long time.


	23. Chapter 23

_ Just to let everyone know, I don't think there will be 30 chapters, but I do plan on another couple chapters before ending this, maybe two or three, not sure:)_

Sokka, Katara, and Zuko were all sitting in Katara's room on the ship. They were almost to Ba Sing Se and were making their last minute plans, deciding who to visit first.

"We should go see General Iroh first," Katara said. She knew how much Zuko wanted to see him.

Sokka frowned. "It would be easier to visit Toph first. She's closer to where we're going to dock."

Katara frowned and looked at Zuko. She really did want to visit Toph, but there was one small problem. Okay, one huge problem. Aang was staying with her.

"They're not that far from each other. Only an hour or so," Zuko said. "I'm sure my uncle will let us stay with him; so we'll see him plenty. If you want, we can stop and see Toph first."

Katara sighed and looked at Sokka who was now smiling. "Great, so we're all set!" he said.

"Yeah," Katara muttered, not ready to face Aang.

But that didn't matter, because the ship stopped right then and they all stood up. Katara grabbed a few bags as did Zuko and Sokka. Sokka hurriedly made his way off the boat, followed by a slower Zuko and Katara. They looked at each other, but uneasy.

They were all led by six guards. Katara and Zuko walked hand in hand, causing Sokka to make a face. "Do you two really have to be so… mushy?" he asked.

"You and Suki are the same way!" Katara argued.

Sokka shuddered. "You two give me oogies," he said.

"What's 'oogies'?" Zuko asked.

Sokka pointed at them. "You two are!"

Katara frowned and kept holding Zuko's hand.

After half an hour they were in town. Sokka 'oohed' and 'aahhhed' and some things in the shops. "Katara, look at these gloves!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, come on, Sokka," was all she said.

He pouted but followed behind her reluctantly. "Are we almost there?" he asked.

"Almost," Katara answered agitatedly.

Sokka frowned and ran into another shop. Katara sighed and said, "I'll go get him," but realized he was nowhere to be seen. "Where did he even go?"

She turned around and spotted him paying for something. "Dear Koh, I really hope he didn't spend all his money."

He walked over to her happily and handed her something. "I bought something for my favorite sister," he said with a smile.

"I'm your only sister," she teased with a smile.

She looked down at what he handed her and smiled more. He had handed her a hair clip that was gold with pink flowers painted on it. It was the perfect size for her thick hair to clip in the back where her hair loopies met. She gasped as she looked over the beautiful clip.

"Sokka, it's beautiful," she whispered. "Thank you," she smiled and hugged him.

He hugged her back and smiled. "Come on, let's get to Toph's house," he said.

Katara pinned the clip in her hair and walked over to Zuko. She grabbed his hand and smiled, and together they made their way to Toph's house.

Toph was sitting at the dinner table with her parents and Aang. They were waiting for their food to be brought out by the servants. Toph was surprised that her parents had been gracious enough to let Aang stay with them for a while. She had expected them to forbid her from seeing him.

"I had the chef prepare your favorite, Toph," her mother said happily.

Toph smiled a little. "Thanks," was all she said.

One of the guards walked into the dining room. "Mr. Beifong, you have some visitors," the guard announced.

Mr. Beifong frowned. "Why does everyone insist on visiting during dinnertime? Ah, blast, who is it?" he asked.

"It's the Fire Lord, sir," the guard said.

"Zuko!" Toph exclaimed.

Aang squirmed in his seat at the realization that he would be seeing Zuko.

"Oh, erm, well, let them in then," Mr. Beifong said.

A few minutes later, Katara, Sokka, and Zuko entered the room. They all bowed respectfully, including Zuko.

"Please, Fire Lord Zuko, don't bow. I am the one who should be bowing," Mr. Beifong said with a bow.

Sokka grinned and sniffed. "I smell meat," he said in awe.

Katara elbowed him and smiled nervously. "We haven't eaten since breakfast and he's a little crazy for food," she explained.

Toph was grinning from ear to ear. "Katara, Sokka, Zuko, it's so good to… hear you all!" she exclaimed.

Katara giggled and Sokka laughed a little. Zuko even smiled.

"Please, take a seat and have dinner with us," Mrs. Beifong invited.

The three of them eagerly sat down. Sokka sat by Aang, and Katara sat on the other side of Sokka, who was across from Zuko.

"So what brings you three limp noodles to Ba Sing Se?" Toph asked.

Sokka was the quickest to respond. "We decided to come visit you and Zuko's uncle," he said quickly.

It was sort of the truth, although he left out the part about Zuko's mom turning into a spirit and he and Katara seeing their mother again.

Aang was nervously twiddling his thumbs, unsure of what to say and avoiding all eye contact with Zuko and Katara.

One of the servants brought the food out and began filling up their plates. Sokka's mouth was watering as he saw all the meat on the platter.

Mrs. Beifong was looking at Katara, who was sitting there quietly. She couldn't help but ask her what's been on her mind. "Is that a betrothal necklace?" she asked.

Katara's hand shot up to her necklace and she smiled a little. "It was my mother's," she explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry, dear. It was rude of me to ask; you're just so young…" she trailed off.

Katara smiled a little and began eating. This was the first time she had mentioned her mother without that same old empty feeling creeping up into her system. She was surprised at how she was happy still; even though she had just thought of her mother. Usually she was close to tears by now.

"So how long are you guys going to stay?" Aang finally spoke up.

"About a week," Sokka answered.

Toph grinned and said, "Great, you guys can meet my students! I started a metal bending academy," she bragged.

"That's great, Toph! How's everything going? Are they catching on quickly?" Katara asked.

Toph frowned. "Not really, but they're getting there. I only have three students," she answered.

Katara looked at Toph and said, "I'm sure they'll get it soon."

After dinner, they three of them thanked the Beifongs. They were about to leave when Aang walked up to Katara after making sure Zuko wasn't around.

"Hey… can we talk?" he asked nervously.

Katara frowned but nodded. He pulled her outside and sighed. "I think I owe you an apology," he admitted.

"Yeah, you do," Katara said.

He frowned. "I'm really, really sorry Katara. I was so angry and hurt, but I shouldn't have tried to kiss you. Besides, I think it's better this way," he admitted.

Katara smiled. "I think so too. So can we just be friends, then?" she asked.

Aang returned her smile. "Yeah, I'd like that."


	24. Chapter 24

"So this is your uncle's new tea shop?" Katara asked Zuko in awe.

It was a large building- for a tea shop, that is. It was painted green and gold, decorated with a beautiful white lotus pattern. There was even a large earth kingdom flag hanging from the building. Zuko smiled to himself, proud of his uncle… proud of himself. He grabbed Katara's hand and looked at her, happiness glowing about him.

"You ready to go inside?" she asked.

"Of course," he grinned and led the beautiful water tribe girl into the lavish building.

They walked inside and were brought before a large dining area with ten tables surrounding a beautiful fountain, the water flowing down three ledges and into streams in the floor, flowing in a beautiful pattern around the tables, shaping into another lotus flower. Zuko smirked and laughed a little before leading Katara to the back room where he knew his uncle would be.

"Uncle?" Zuko asked.

They heard a slight commotion before seeing Iroh emerge from the back room. His face lit up with happiness and he raced over to Zuko and embraced him tightly. Zuko hugged him back and Katara smiled, watching the two of them.

Iroh pulled away and smiled. "Pardon me, that is not the proper way to greet the Fire Lord," he grinned and bowed respectfully. "Hello, Fire Lord Zuko."

Zuko smiled a little and looked around again. "Uncle, this is really nice. What did you name it?" he asked.

Iroh grinned his big, happy smile and said, "In honor of my favorite Pai Sho tile, I named it the Blooming Lotus. Do you like it?"

"It's amazing," Katara whispered, amazed in how much work had been put into the place. She noticed the tables had metal stands. "Hey those are metal!"

"Oh yes, Toph generously helped out with building the place. She even brought her friends down here to practice their metal bending," he said.

"You mean the class she teaches?" Zuko asked.

Iroh nodded, "Yeah, that. They're coming along well I must say. So how long are you two staying?" Iroh asked.

Zuko turned to his uncle. "Well actually, we brought Sokka along too, but he's out shopping with Toph and Aang right now. We're only gonna be staying for a few days," Zuko admitted.

Iroh grinned, glad to hear they would be staying even for a little while. "How is your sister?" He asked, a look of concern crossing over his face.

"Well, she's still in the mental hospital. But like I wrote to you in the letter, she's not showing too much progress… there's actually someone else I need to talk to you about, uncle," Zuko said nervously.

Zuko and Katara glanced at one another, and she nodded for him to go on.

"And who is that?" Iroh asked.

Zuko sighed and began to talk, "Well, a few weeks ago I got a visitor…"

He proceeded in filling his uncle in on everything that happened with his mother.

"She's The Painted Lady spirit now? How interesting," he said in awe.

"She wants me to bring Azula to talk to her," Zuko said.

Iroh frowned and pursed his lips. "It would be a very good thing for Azula and Ursa to make amends, but I do not know if Azula is ready for that yet," he advised.

Zuko nodded. "Me either, but I'm not sure when exactly she'll be ready," he admitted.

"She will only be ready when she wants to be ready. It is like I always said; you cannot force a wormpiller to become a bearfly. The wormpiller must learn to evolve on its own, only then can it spread its wings and welcome a new life," Iroh said in his wise tone.

Katara glanced at Zuko, figuring he had an idea what Iroh meant, because she was clueless.

"I know, so I guess I'll just wait until she's ready. Thank you uncle," Zuko bowed his head.

"It is my pleasure, Zuko. Now, are you two thirsty? Let me make you two a pot of my famous tea!" he offered happily.

Zuko and Katara grinned, taking each other's hand. They smiled lovingly at each other, the scent of delicious tea beginning to fill the air. Iroh glanced over at the two love birds and smiled. He was so happy Zuko had finally found himself. All Iroh ever wanted was for Zuko to truly redeem himself; and now he had done it, gaining the ultimate happiness and even falling in love. He remembered all that time Zuko had spent searching for the Avatar, hoping to redeem his honor, not knowing that the one thing he was searching for wasn't the Avatar, but it was the brave water bender who traveled with him.

**_Yes this was a super short chapter, and I have some news for you all. There will be only one more chapter... until I skip ahead a few years. I feel like there's nothing more to be done in the story unless I show what their lives will be like later on (cough spoiler cough) so that's what I'm going to do. It's taken me a while to update because I've literally had a terrible case of writer's block. Anyways, I'm not sure how many chapters I will include about their lives later on, so you guys let me know how many more you want and I will try my best to make it happen. Feel free to suggest ideas, like if you want to know about their kids, wedding, Toph and Aang, Sokka and Suki, etc. Thank you all for the support and reviews, it means a lot. I really want to wrap this story up because I have so many ideas for other stories and I want to get started on them! And yes they are all Avatar related :p Okay well I realize I'm rambling and I apologize, so once again thank you all :)_**


	25. Chapter 25

Two weeks had passed after they returned to the Fire Nation. Zuko was walking around outside by the pond while Katara was still asleep. Sokka had decided to return back to the water tribe but promised-more like threatened- to return next month.

Zuko was contemplating whether or not to visit Azula. She had still made very little progress and the doctors were desperate for something good to happen, as was Zuko. He wasn't sure if it was too soon for him to go see her, but he figured it would always be too soon until he tried. He decided to go visit her later that night. He and Katara talked it over many times, and she told him she thinks it would be good for Azula. Zuko decided that she was right.

Once the clock struck six o'clock he found Katara, who was talking to a female guard. He waited until Katara noticed him, not wanting to interrupt their conversation. She politely excused herself and made her way over to Zuko.

"I've decided to go visit Azula tonight," he announced shakily.

She could tell he was nervous and quickly racked her brain on ways to calm him down. "Good, she's probably lonely. I bet she'll enjoy seeing you, even if she doesn't admit it. Who couldn't miss you?" she flirted with a smile.

Zuko smiled half-heartedly, her attempt didn't help him feel any better but he let it pass. "Thanks," he whispered before kissing her.

She looked up at him and smiled. "I'll see you later," she said with a smile.

He smiled back then turned around, making his was out of the palace.

About an hour later he arrived at the institute and walked inside nervously. The clerk stared at him wide eyed for a second before bowing and saying, "Fire Lord Zuko, I assume you're here to meet with your sister?"

Zuko nodded. "Right this way then, please." She led him to a room then directed him to follow the guards down to the visitation room and assured him that they would bring Azula to meet him there, instead of making him visit her in the cell.

He was too nervous to sit down so he stood by the table, waiting for them to bring her. He listened quietly for about five minutes until he heard footsteps coming down the hall. He nervously clenched his fists and unclenched them, listening to the footsteps grow closer and closer to the door, suspense building up and it felt to him as if it was going in slow motion yet not slow enough. It seemed like the guards took a million years opening the door. Once they did, they entered with a very different looking Azula.

Zuko's eyes widened as he recognized his sister. She was much, much thinner and her hair was tangled and scattered all over her pale face. The bags under her eyes were prominent with their dark blue-black-purple bruise like stains.

Azula kept her eyes on the ground, refusing to meet anyone's gaze. She knew what they thought of her. They thought she was crazy, that she was sick and insane. She didn't want to see their judgmental eyes peering straight into her mind with their complete and utter disgust. She didn't want to see the hatred that crossed over their faces as they pretended to be nice to her and try and help her.

They forced her to sit bound in a wheel chair, restraining her from attempting an escape. Zuko took a step towards his sister, who still hadn't acknowledged that he was there. He swallowed hard and took a deep breath. He wasn't sure how to start the conversation. So many things were swirling around in his head. He was so confused, but the words seemed to start pouring out anyways.

"Azula, I know we don't have a history of getting along very well. There were a few times when you attempted to kill me, and there were times when we hated each other. I mean, I know you hate me now, but I don't hate you. I want to help you, Azula," he began.

She scoffed but didn't get the chance to say anything.

"I know you're mad at me, but I think you can forgive me. Azula, you're my little sister. I remember when neither of us could fire bend yet, you were only four years old. We used to be so close, whenever it would rain you would come into my room because you were scared. We used to play hide and seek before that turned into hide and explode, and we used to build sand castles on ember island when we went on vacation.

"I know it will take time, but sooner or later you'll realize what I realized. You're not a bad person, Azula. You've been told what to do and how to live your entire life, it's just how you think. I had Iroh to guide me along, but now I realize that you had no one. I want to change that. Just remember, Azula, you're not alone… you have me," He finished.

Azula felt tears run down her cheeks but lowered her head so no one could see. She still hadn't met anyone's eyes. "You don't mean that," she snarked, "you all think I'm evil."

"I don't think you're evil, I think you're hurt," Zuko said.

"Yes you do! You all do! Even my own mother thinks so! She told me- she told me I was a monster! You all think I'm a monster!" she shrieked, snarling at Zuko and now glaring at him. Tears were streaking down her pale face.

She didn't believe him. No one had even had faith in her, so why would anyone start now?

Zuko backed away from the sobbing girl, a little scared. Okay, terrified, actually.

He took a deep breath again. "Look, Azula, about mom…" her eyes went wide. "I-I talked to her. She wants to see you."

He decided to just tell her. She was still staring at him with wide eyes when she said, "Take me back to my cell."

After the third visit, Azula was open to talking about her mother. She finally decided to ask about her.

"Where is mom?" she asked her brother, who was standing by the table once again.

He sighed and told her she was staying in a small fire nation village.

"And… she wants you to bring me to her?" She asked suspiciously.

It took a bit of convincing, but Azula grudgingly agreed to go. They decided that next month would be a good time to go, so Zuko spent the next few visits prepping Azula on what to expect.

She didn't quite believe him, but decided to go anyways. She wouldn't admit it but she would've done really anything to escape this institution. She figured that she could escape somehow, although that would be a plan to come up with once she saw the town and had an idea on how to manage an escape. She did know one thing, though. No matter whether or not his story was true, she did want to see her mother… spirit or not.  
_**Not sure if I'm gonna write a reunion between them for this story. Let me know if you guys would want one or not. This is the last chapter, now I'm gonna go on to write about their life in years to come, but there will be a reunion included if you guys want one. :)**_


	26. Chapter 26

_**So I've pinpointed my main ideas for the rest of the story and have decided that I needed to do this one in first person. I was waiting for the search part one to come out to sorta help me decide where to go with the rest of the story but... yeah that didn't work out. So anyways, from here on out there will be only one or two more chapters that I will put up and that's it. **_

"I don't see why I have to be guarded all the time," I protested.

"It's just… a precaution, Azula," my brother said annoyingly.

"Where is it we're going again, _brother_?" I asked, letting the detest appear in my voice.

"I told you, it's a small Fire Nation village, we'll be there soon," he replied calmly.

"And what makes you so sure our mother's still going to be there?" I glared at him harshly.

He sighed and closed his eyes. "For the hundredth time, Azula, she will be there. Stop worrying so much, okay?"

I frowned and turned away from him, crossing my arms tightly. I stared out at the blue ocean, the waves silently lapping against the ship. Water, one of the weaker elements, if I do say so myself. What can it do, heal you? Fire can destroy, it can do damage. Water benders are weak while fire benders are straight forward and strong. I do admit that earth benders do have good qualities, but none as good as fire benders.

As I saw land coming into view, I couldn't help but have mixed feelings about this. What was going to happen? I knew she thought I was a monster, but I still wanted to see her… and I didn't know why that was, exactly. Was it to get revenge? Maybe it was to hurt her. Or maybe it was because I missed her… No, that wasn't even a possibility. She never loved me, and I never loved her.

I mechanically followed my scarred brother with dignity, ignoring the glare I received from the tan water bending peasant. Somehow I was not surprised Zuzu fell for her, I mean he fell for Mai. He never had good taste in women.

We made our way down a small path in the woods. "How long is this going to take us?" I complained.

"We'll be there soon," Zuko replied.

We walked for a few more minutes before coming to a nasty looking pier. I watched with my arms crossed as Zuzu pulled out some familiar looking flower and dropped it into the water. I thought about asking him what he did that for except I got distracted by the white mist that began rising from the water.

I watched with widened eyes as I saw what I believed to be impossible. A woman- no, my mother rose from that water, illuminated by a soft glow. Her long black hair was flowing gracefully, and she was dressed in a long, white dress. Her face was covered in red paint.

She blinked a few times and stared at us with a soft smile on her face. I kept my arms crossed and glared at her menacingly. However, that didn't break the happiness that seemed to glow from her. Zuko was staring at her, a smile on his face.

"Mother, I brought Azula like you asked…" he said.

My mother nodded and smiled more. "Azula," she said.

I frowned, not losing my glare. I had come to see her, and now that I was here I couldn't help but be angry. She hadn't even bothered to visit me before turning into some spirit! Why had I even come, it was apparent that she had more important things to do.

"I'm so glad you came. Azula, I've missed you so much," she said with her musical voice, the sound of tears being held back was apparent.

I narrowed my eyes and looked to the side. "I'm sure you did."

"I did, I really did. Azula, you don't have to be so angry all the time. Love, you're so beautiful, and so smart, and talented. I don't want you to waste your life being angry. I want you to be happy. I love you, Azula," she began to cry softly.

"Don't…" I began. "Don't. I'm sick and tired of believing and trusting, and letting myself get hurt! You never loved me, no one did! No one does…" I screamed, not even trying to hold back my tears. "You always loved Zuko more, and dad loved power more than anything! My only two friends betrayed me for Zuko! So just stop! I won't believe you!"

Sobs wracked through my body. "Azula, I love you… I do," she whispered.

I wrapped my arms around myself as if I was giving myself a hug and turned away. "I know," I admitted. "And… I- I love you too… and that scared me…"


	27. Chapter 27: The End

Katara and Zuko sat across a small picnic table, chatting quietly amongst each other. It was Kya's third birthday party and everyone was gathered to celebrate. Katara watched her young daughter shoot fire at her aunt, teasing her. Azula was still not great with people even after seven years, but she laughed happily, dodging the fire.

Aang, Sokka, Suki, and Toph joined the two love birds at their table.

"Hey guys. Me and Twinkle Toes have an announcement to make," Toph said with a smile.

Katara and Zuko exchanged a simple grin, knowing they had good news.

"We're engaged!" Aang exclaimed happily.

Young Kya ran over to join them, followed by her aunt. "You're gonna get mawwied?" She asked excitedly.

Aang and Toph both smiled, a slight blush on their cheeks. "Yes, next summer. You're all invited, obviously," Aang responded.

Katara smiled warmly, ecstatic that her two best friends _finally _decided to tie the knot. Sokka also grinned and wrapped an arm around his pregnant wife.

"Well this is great! Now we're all together and we can celebrate," Sokka said.

Katara smiled at him and picked up her daughter. "Yes, it is great. Really, truly, I love you all."

**The end! Wow this is the first story I've ever finished... thanks for everyone who stuck around this whole time! I love you all so much just like Katara oh goodness hope love tearbending ;_; Hehe. :) **


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